FPGA realization of a smart processing system for clinical diagnostic applications using pipelined datapath architectures

The paper describes the implementation of a novel smart data processing hardware system having medical diagnostic capabilities. The system is implemented in a FPGA chip for fast design cycle. The system employs a smart agent that can predict the future pathophysiological state of a patient using the past pathophysiological data and can thus predict the approaching critical condition of the patient before criticality actually occurs. This feature has been realized using fuzzy logic. In order to speed up the computation process, pipelined data processing architectures have been employed leading to a speed up of approximately three times. The whole system is realized on Altera Cyclone EP1K6Q240C8 FPGA chip requiring 5308 logic blocks. The system has been designed to be inexpensive, portable and user friendly for rural applications in developing countries. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.