Biopotential Amplifiers

ECGAmplifier

BasicRequirements
Essentialfunctionofabiopotential amplifieristotakea weakelectricsignalsofbiologicaloriginandincreaseits amplifier Theymusthavehighinputimpedancesothattheyprovide minimalloadingtoavoiddistortionofthesignal.Typical inputimpedancesare1M. Inputcircuitmustprovideprotection.Nocurrentsmust appearattheinputterminals. Outputcircuitisprimarilyusedtodrivetheamplifierload output p impedance p shouldbelow. Biopotential amplifiersmustbedesignedtobeoptimalina particularfrequencyrangeasneededbythesignalto obtainoptimal p signal g tonoiseratios.

ECGRecordingSystem

Thefirststageisatransducer(AgCl electrode),which convertECGinto i electrical l i lvoltage. l The h voltage l is i in i the h rangeof1mV~5mV Thesecondstageisaninstrumentationamplifier,which hasaveryhighCMRR(90dB)andhighgain(1000) Optocouplertoisolatetheinputandoutputofamplifier byconvertingtheelectricalsignaltolightandthenback Bandpass filterof0.04Hzto150Hzfilter.Normally implementedbycascadingalowpassfilterandahigh passfilter.

CardiacVector
Heartgeneratesanelectricalsignal Electricalactivityoftheheartcanbemodeledasan electricdipolelocatedinaconductingmediumwhere adipoleconsistsofpointsofequalpositiveand negativechargeseparatedfromoneanotherandis denotedbythedipolemoment Thedipolemomentisavectorfromnegativecharge topositivechargehavingthemagnitudeproportional totheseparationofthesecharges. Thisdipolemomentiscalledthecardiacvector, representedbyM Itsmagnitudeanddirectionvaryduringthecardiac cycleasthedipolefieldvariesitself. Thecardiacvectorindicatesthedirectionofthe depolarizationintime.

Wewanttocapturethe cardiacvectorMbylooking at tvector t components t . Wecandothatby connectingleadsonthe surfaceofthebodyto d detect biopotentials, b l then h a1 thevoltagedifference introducedintheleadisthe projectionofthecardiac vector Aleadisdefinedasa connectionbetween2 electrodesplacedonthe body

Va1=M.a1=|M|cos M

a2

a1 +

Figure6.2 6 2Relationshipsbetweenthetwolead vectorsa1 anda2 andthecardiacvectorM.The componentofM inthedirectionofa1 isgivenby thedotproductofthesetwovectorsanddenoted onthefigurebyval.Leadvectora2 isperpendicular tothecardiacvector,sonovoltagecomponentis seeninthislead.

ExampleofLeads Eindhovenstriangle
Connectionbetween2 electrodes The Th primary i leads l d are
LeadI:LAtoRA LeadII:LLtoRA LeadIII:LLtoLA RLforground

ForaleadIIsystemwhichis very ycommon, ,LLandRAare fedtotheinputsofthe instrumentation diff differential ti lamplifier lifi

I+III=II

ConceptofWilsonsCentralTerminal
Wilsonetal.suggestedtheuse ofthecentralterminal asa referenceformeasuringthe electrodepotentials Thisreferencewasformedby connectinga5kWresistor fromthelimbelectrodetothe commonpoint point. Wilsonsterminalisnotground buttheaverageofthelimb potentialswiththetotal currentatthispointtobezero Thereareotherlead configurationscalled AugmentedLeads

OtherLeads Augmented
Forsignalaugmentation Disconnecttheunipolar electrodey youaremeasuring gfromthewilsons terminalandthenmeasure

ChestLeads
V1V6Chestleads V3V4bestforseptal defects Themostcommonlyused clinicalECGsystem,the12 leadECGsystem,consistsof thefollowing12leads leads,which are: I,II,III aVR,aVL,aVF V1,V2,V3,V4,V5,V6

ECGWave
ECGNominal Data

wave P Q R S T

LeadI 0.015to0.12 0.0to0.16 0 02t 0.02 to1 1.13 13 0.0to0.36 0.06to0.42

LeadII 0.000to0.19 0.0to0.18 0 18t 0.18 to1 1.68 68 0.0to0.49 0.06to0.55

LeadIII 0.073to0.13 0.0to0.28 0 03t 0.03 to1 1.31 31 0.0to0.55 0.06to0.30

DesignofanECGcircuit
Rightleg electrode Sensing electrodes Leadfail detect Driven rightleg circuit

ADC

Memory

Amplifier protection circuit

Lead selector

Preamplifier

Isolation circuit

Driver amplifier

Recorder printer

Auto Baseline calibration restoration

Isolated power supply

Parallelcircuitsforsimultaneousrecordingsfromdifferentleads

Microcomputer Control program ECGanalysis program Operator display Ke board Keyboard

Figure6.7Blockdiagramofanelectrocardiograph

MainComponentsoftheECGCircuit
Preamplifier InitialAmplification NeedsveryhighI/Pimpedance HighCMRR Typically,itisa3opamp differentialamplifierwitha gaincontrolswitch DriverAmplifier AmplificationoftheECGsignalfor appropriaterecording Isolationcircuitry BlockstheECGfrompowerline frequencies eque c es Drivenrightlegcircuit Providesareferencepointonthe bodyinsteadofground

PreamplifierDesign
Design g Specifications p AmplificationRange:202000 FrequencyRange(0.05150Hz) HighInputImpedance2.5M Hi hCMRR(Ex High (E 60dB) Step1:SingleOpampDifferentialAmplifier

Forthisdifferentialamplifier
VOUT =(V1 V2)R4/R3

ForaCMRR>60dBorCMRR>1000 Gd/Gc>1000 Gd isgovernedbyR4/R3ifwechoose R4=47K R4 47KandR3 R3=10K 10K,Gd=4 4.7 7and Gc=0.0047whichisgoodCommon Moderejection.WecanreplaceR4in yapotentiometer p to thiscircuitby adjusttoincreasecommonmode rejection.

PreamplifierDesignCont.
Step2:Considerthe2opampstageanddesign itforhighgain

VOUT Gain=

= (V1 V2)(1+2R2/R1) VOUT 1+2R2/R1

If we choose R2=22K R2 22K and R1=10K R1 10K, then gain=(1+(2*22)/10))=5.4

PreamplifierDesignCont.
Step3:Cascadethe2opampstagewiththe differentialamplifier

TotalGainoftheinstrumentationamplifier =4.7*5.4~25

VOUT = (V1 V2)(1 + 2R2/R1)(R4/R3)

STEP5

PreamplifierwithFiltering
LowPass f=1/(2*pi*RC)~106Hz Truncates frequencies>106Hz

STEP6 Noninvertingamplifier Gain=(1+150K/4.7K)~32 ( / ) TotalGain=25*32=800

STEP4

HighPass=RC=3.3s f=1/(2*pi*RC)~0.05Hz Passes frequencies>0.05Hz

Someadditionaldesignconsiderations

Highgainstagesearlyinthesignalpath. However,theHighPassFilterstage shouldbeplacedimmediatelyafterthe d ff differential lamplifier l f tochop h off ffthe h DC componentofitsoutput.Otherwise,this DCcomponentwillbeamplifiedbythe gainstage g g andmay ysaturatethe followingopamps

ItsgainisdeterminedbytheresistorRg.

2nd orderfilterSalleyKeyhighpassfilter

ProblemswithECG.
InterferencefromElectricDevices Powerline interference
Powerline C2 Z1 Id1 Id2 C1 120V C3

Thereiselectricfieldcoupling betweenthepowerlineandthelead wiresand/orECGamplifier.This couplingismodeledasacapacitor.It causesacurrenttoflowfromthe Z2 powerlinethroughtheskinelectrode impedancethroughthebodyto ground.Bodyimpedanceislow~ 500.HencethevoltageVA VB = Id1*Z1Id2*Z2.Iftheelectrodesare placedclosetogetherthecurrentsare approximatelythesame.VA VB = Id1*(Z1Z2)~120VifId1isinnA and differenceofZ1Z2isinK.Thisis quitehigh. Thiscanbeminimizedbyshielding theleadsandgroundingeachshield attheECGunit.Alsoloweringskin electrodeimpedancesmayhelp.

A B Electrocardiograph G

ZG

Id1+Id2

Figure6.10 Amechanismofelectric fieldpickupofanelectrocardiograph resultingfromthepowerline.Coupling capacitancebetweenthehotsideof thepowerlineandleadwirescauses currenttoflowthroughskinelectrode impedancesonitswaytoground.

ProblemswithECG.
Powerline 120V Cb idb

Thereisalsoapossibilityofcurrentfromthepowerline toflowthroughthebodyasshowncausingacommon modelvoltagetoappearinthesignal. ThemagnitudeofthissignalisVcm=idb*Z ZG.Typicalvalues are10mVforidb=0.2AandZG=50K. Foraperfectamplifierthisisnoproblemasthe differentialamplifierwithrejectthecommonmode signal.Butforrealamplifierswithfiniteinput impedance,thereissomeVcm thatappearsinthe output output. VAVB=Vcm ((Z2Z1)/Zin)ifZ1 andZ2 are<<Zin. Hencethe h skin k electrode l d impedances d become b critical lin thedesignofthebiopotential amplifiers.Anyimbalance intheinputcontributetothecommonmodesignal.

cm

Z1 cm

Electrocardiograph A Zin B Zin

Z2

cm ZG idb

Figure6.11 Currentflowsfromthe powerlinethroughthebodyand ground dimpedance, i d th thuscreating ti a commonmodevoltageeverywhereon Henceweneedtokeepinputimpedancehigh Andskinelectrodeimpedanceequaltoremovecommon thebody.

modevoltagessuchaspowerline interference

ProblemswithECGCont.
Othersourcesof interference Magneticfieldpickup EMGi interference t f
Figure6.12Magneticfieldpickupby theelctrocardiograph (a)Leadwiresfor leadImakeaclosedloop(shadedarea) whenpatientandelectrocardiograph areconsideredinthecircuit.The changeinmagneticfieldpassing throughthisareainducesacurrentin theloop.(b)Thiseffectcanbe minimizedbytwistingtheleadwires togetherandkeepingthemclosetothe bodyinordertosubtendamuch smallerarea.

Figure6.9 (a)60Hzpowerline interference (b)Electromyographic interference. Electrom ographic interferenceontheECG.

ProblemswithTransients
ToprotecttheECGcircuitagainsthighvoltagesweneedvoltage limitingcircuitry. TheseoccurforexampleintheoperatingroomwhentheECGis combinedwiththeuseofanelectrosurgicalunitthatwillinduce hightransientvoltagesintothepatient. Voltagelimitingdevicessuchasdiodesareusedforprotectingthe ECGcircuitryandareconnectedbetweentheleadandRLground.

Figure6.13Avoltageprotectionscheme attheinputofanelectrocardiograph

Figure6.14 6 14Voltagelimitingdevices(a)Current voltagecharacteristicsofavoltagelimiting device.(b)Parallelsilicondiodevoltagelimiting circuit.(c)BacktobacksiliconZenerdiode

OtherProblemsfrequently encounteredwiththeECG
FrequencyDistortion:Highfrequency distortion RoundingofftheQRS waveformanddiminishingits amplitude.Lowfrequencydistortion baselineisnolongerhorizontalafteran event. Saturationorcutoffdistortion High Figure6.8Effectofavoltagetransientonan ECGrecordedonanelectrocardiographin offsetvoltagesandimproperlyadjusted whichthetransientcausestheamplifierto amplifierscanproducesaturatedECGs. saturate,andafiniteperiodoftimeis PeaksoftheQRSarecutoff requiredforthechargetobleedoffenough tobringtheECGbackintotheamplifiers GroundLoops If1groundof1device activeregionofoperation.Thisisfollowedby ishigherthantheECGground,a afirstorderrecoveryofthesystem. g thep patient currentwillflowthrough presentingasafetyproblemaswellas ArtifactsfromLargeTransients elevatingthepatientsbodypotential Causealargeabruptdeflectioninthe projectingerroneousvoltagesinthe ECG,takelongtimeforrecoverydue ECG tothelargechargebuiltupinthe capacitors.

Commonmodereductioncircuits
Commonmodesignalfromthebodyor powerlineisaproblem.Eventhough theamplifierwillhelpineliminating thesebecauseofthehighCMRR,we cantrytoeliminatethecommonmodel signalatthesource.Forinstance Electric l and dMagneticf field ldpickup k can beminimizedbyelectrostaticshielding RL andtwistingofleadwires. Another h solution l i i isthe h Driven i Right i h LegR SystemwheretheRLelectrodeis connectedtotheO/Pofanauxiliary opamp Thecommonmodesignal opamp. sensedbythevoltagefollowersis amplifiedandfedbacktothebody raisingtheRLpotential. potential Thisnegative feedbackcausestheoutputcommon modesignaltobelow.
cm

id + 3 Ra

+ 4

Ra Rf Auxiliary op pamp p + Ro

RL

Designconsiderations withother p amplifiers

Figure6.16Voltageandfrequencyrangesofsomecommonbiopotentialsignals;dc potentialsincludeintracellularvoltagesaswellasvoltagesmeasuredfromseveral pointsonthebody.EOGistheelectrooculogram,EEGistheelctroencephalogram,ECG istheelectrocardiogram,EMGistheelectromyogram,andAAPistheaxonaction potential.

EMGAmplifier BasicsandDesign
EMGstandsforelectromyogram Itismeasurementofelectricalpotentialscreatedbythecontractionof muscles. Musclesgeneratevoltagesaround100mVwhentheycontract.These voltages lt aregreatly tl attenuated tt t d b byi internal t ltissue ti and dthe th skin, ki and dthey th areweakbutmeasurableatthesurfaceoftheskin. TypicalsurfaceEMGsignalsforlargemuscles,suchasthebicep,are around12mVinamplitude. EMGsignalscontainfrequenciesrangingfrom10Hzorlowerupto1kHz orhigher. ToobserveanEMGsignal,weneedtobuildadifferentialamplifierwith highcommonmoderejection Thedominantcommonmodevoltagesignalsonourbodiesisusuallya60 Hzsinewavethatiscapacitively coupledtousfromthe120VACwiringin thewalls. Werejectthissignalbylookingatthedifferenceinvoltagebetweentwo nearbypointsontheskinoverthemuscleofinterest. Wewillalsowanttouseacircuitthedrawsnearlyzerocurrentfromthe p leads, ,sincedccurrentp passedthrough g EMGelectrodescanleadto input largedcoffsetsanddegradethelongtermusefulnessoftheelectrodes.

WecanbuildanEMGcircuitusinganinstrumentationamplifierwithopamps suchas LM741andLM324(BJTdevicesinputcurrentsof100500nA)orTL084devicewithJFETs inputcurrents<0.2nA ordeviceswithMOSFETS(lowerinputcurrents,buttheygenerally exhibithigherlevelsofnoise). noise) TL084isidenticaltothatoftheLM324inthepindiagram Forsafetythebestmethodistoconnecttwo9Vbatteriesforpowersupply Youcandesigntheinstrumentationamplifier(3opamp one)wediscussedinclass.For exampleyoucansetagainof201. 201 Gainis (1 + 2R2/R1)(R4/R3) Wecanusevalueslike10KforallresistorsexceptR2and1MforR2togetanoverall gainof201.Youcanmeasuretheoverallgainofyourcircuitbyapplyingasmallamplitude 1KHzsinewavefromafunctiongenerator.Youcanessentiallyplotgainoverfrequencyfor varyingI/Pfrequency. ToobserveanEMGweneedEMGelectrodes.Wecansticktwooftheseelectrodesonthe muscleofinterest(ex.bicep,closetoeachotherbutnotoverlapping).The3rd electrode canbe b stuck t kto t th theb bonei inyourelbow lb of fthe th samearmand dthat th tis i connected t dto t ground d i in theEMGcircuit.Connectyourelbowtocircuitground.Thiswillkeepyourbodypotential nearyourcircuitsgroundpotential.Sincetherearenomusclesatyourelbowtogenerate electricp potentials, ,thisisagood g grounding g gp point.Connecttheothertwoelectrodestothe inputoftheopamp andobservetheresponseontheoscilloscopebyflexingthebicep. Amplitudesvisualizedshouldbe100300mV.ToavoidanyDCoffsetsfromtheelectrodes wecanaddhighpassfiltertotheinstrumentationamplifier.Withcutoffaround10Hz