In this paper we present the results of the first electrical and optical characterization performed on 1 mm 2 total area Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) fabricated in standard silicon planar technology at the STMicroelectronics Catania R&D clean room facility. The device consists of 289 microcells and has a geometrical fill factor of 48%. Breakdown voltage, gain, dark noise rate, crosstalk, photon detection efficiency and linearity have been measured in our laboratories. The optical characterization has been performed by varying the temperature applied to the device. The results shown in the manuscript demonstrate that the device already exhibits relevant features in terms of low dark noise rate and inter-pixel crosstalk probability, high photon detection efficiency, good linearity and single photoelectron resolution. These characteristics can be considered really promising in view of the final application of the photodetector in the Positron Emission Tomography (PET).Index Terms-Crosstalk, dark noise rate, gain, Geiger mode avalanche photodiode, linearity, photon detection efficiency, silicon photomultiplier.

Two versions of a PPG/ECG combined system have been realized and tested. In a first version a multisite system has been equipped by integrating 3 PPG optodes and 3 ECG leads, whereas in another setup a portable version has been carried out. Both versions have been realized by equipping the optical probes with SiPM detectors. SiPM technology is expected to bring relevant advantages in PPG systems and overcome the limitations of physiological information extracted by state of the art PPG, such as poor sensitivity of detectors used for backscattered light detection and motion artifacts seriously affecting the measurements repeatability and pulse waveform stability. This contribution presents the intermediate results of development in the frame of the European H2020-ECSEL Project ASTONISH (n.692470), including SiPM based PPG optodes, and the acquisition electronic components used for simultaneous recording of both PPG/ECG signals. The accurate monitoring of dynamic changes of physiological data through a non-invasive integrated system, including hemodynamic parameters (e.g. heart rate, tissue perfusion etc.) and heart electrical activity can play an important role in a wide variety of applications (e.g. healthcare, fitness and cardiovascular disease). In this work we describe also a method to process PPG waveform according to a PPG process pipeline for pattern recognition. Some examples of PPG waveform signal analysis and the preliminary results of acquisitions obtained through the intermediate demonstrator systems have been reported.

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