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The constant development and miniaturization of MEMS sensors invariably provides new possibilities for their use in health-related and medical applications. The application of MEMS devices in posturographic systems allows faster diagnosis and significantly facilitates the work of medical staff. MEMS accelerometers constitute a vital part of such systems, particularly those intended for monitoring patients with imbalance disorders. The correct design of such sensors is crucial for gathering data about patient movement and ensuring the good overall performance of the entire system. This paper presents the design and measurements of a three-axis accelerometer dedicated for use in a device which tracks patient movement. Its main focus is the characterization of the sensor, comparing different designs and evaluating the impact of the packaging and readout circuit integration on sensor operation. Extensive testing and measurements confirm that the designed accelerometer works correctly and allows identifying the best design in terms of sensitivity/stability. Moreover, the response of the proposed sensor as a function of the applied acceleration demonstrates very good linearity only if the readout circuit is integrated in the same package as the MEMS sensor.

In this paper we shall address the physical implementation of self-repairing and evolvable hardware strategies. These alternatives will be enabled by the specific dynamic reconfiguration capabilities included in a new family of FPGA devices, called FIPSOC (Field Programmable System On a Chip). The main features of these devices are given by the integration on a single chip of a dynamically reconfigurable FPGA, a programmable analog section and a microcontroller. As our experimental results will show, the efficient use of the available resources makes these devices an excellent platform for testing, developing and realizing physically new concepts in electronic design.