Compared to existing approaches and components, it simplifies the design, provides space savings of over 75% and reduces the number of components, while significantly improving performance.

Designers of defibrillators and ECG monitors face a challenge, as their ECG input amplifiers must withstand high-voltage pulses for cardiac resuscitation. These pulses can easily damage the sensitive electronic circuitry that captures cardiac signals at the millivolt level. Preventing this damage has required a three-layer, multi-component approach that combines a gas discharge tube (GDT) per channel and/or a transient voltage suppression (TVS) device, as well as ESD protection diodes. Furthermore, the leakage current (a critical parameter) is relatively high, at approximately 1–2 nA.

Maxim's four-channel MAX30034 defibrillation protection device utilizes an innovative, advanced semiconductor process topology to safely absorb and redirect high-energy pulses away from sensitive circuitry. This small, robust device requires only two external resistor pairs per channel, providing design simplicity, a smaller overall size, and lower leakage current. The MAX30034 replaces primary-level GDTs and/or TVSs, as well as secondary-level ESD diodes, which are the conventional solutions for mandatory circuit protection. The device can withstand over 100,000 defibrillation pulses without failure and maintain a leakage current below 10 pA (100 times less than GDT/TVS-based approaches).

Key advantages
• Ease of design: A single, tiny IC and two pairs of external resistors per channel are all that's needed
• Robust: Leakage current is 100 times lower than GDT/TVS-based approaches, even after 100,000 5 kV pulses
• Small: Replaces complex primary, secondary, and ESD protection solutions for up to 75% space savings; 3 mm x 5 mm μMAX® form factor (0 to 70 degrees Celsius operating temperature range)

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