Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
DGIST team develops low-power, high-definition chip for wearable devices
Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) professor Lee Jung-hyup, left, and researcher Kim Geun-ha / Courtesy of DGIST
By Nam Hyun-woo
A team led by Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) professor Lee Jung-hyup has developed an ultra low-power chip that measures biosignals such as electrocardiograms and brain waves at ultra-high resolution, the university said Monday.
Measuring biosignals through wearable devices such as a smartwatch requires advanced noise reduction technology, as the signals are extremely weak and easily distorted by user movement. This has increased demand for chips that can suppress noise while supporting a wide input range with low power consumption.
To meet those requirements, the team proposed a new noise-shaping successive approximation register analog-to-digital converter (NS-SAR-ADC) architecture, which pushes irregular signal interference caused by external factors into higher frequency regions where it can be removed.
Through this architecture, the team achieved advanced low-noise performance that remains stable against variations in voltage and temperature, without relying on complex calibration techniques or large capacitors.
An architecture of Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (DGIST) team's wearable device chip / Courtesy of DGIST
The team realized the entire system on a 0.16-square millimeter chip. It operates at just 6.3 microwatts under a 1-volt supply, indicating extremely low-power consumption suitable for wearable devices. This is a level considered ultra low-power for wearable analog front-end chips used to process biosignals.
The research was presented at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2026, one of the most prestigious forums in the semiconductor field. Over the past five years, Lee’s team has published five papers in the conference’s biomedical sessions.
DGIST said the achievement bears significance as it presents a new architecture capable of integrating the low-noise, wide-input range and ultra low-power features required for wearable devices into a single semiconductor chip. The technology is expected to be widely used in various fields, including long-term health monitoring in daily life and high-precision medical devices.
“Through this research, we proposed an innovative architecture capable of meeting key requirements for biosignal measurement during heavy user movements, which are unavoidable in wearable environments,” Lee said.
“It is meaningful as a foundational technology that can improve both signal reliability and usability in long-term wearable healthcare devices. Our next goal is to expand it into a platform that can operate reliably in real-world wearable environments.”
Kim Geun-ha, a researcher of the team, said: “This research is expected to make a significant contribution to advancing next-generation wearable and medical device technologies for long-term biosignal monitoring.”