Automatic Current Range Detection for Biochemical Sensor
Wei-lun Liu, Ming-Han Yu, Bin-Da Liu, and Chia-Ling Wei
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University,
One University Road, Tainan 70101, Taiwan
+886-6-2098202, bruce 1223776@gmail.com, moonplume@hotmail.com, bdliu@mail.ncku.edu.tw, and
clwei@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Abstract
In this paper, a current sensing mechanism for biochemical
sensor is presented. The sensing circuit consists of current
conveyor, current mirror, current range detection circuit, and
current to digital converter. The chip can be integrated in a
potentiostat system. This work is implemented in TSMC
2
0.18-,um CMOS process, and the area is 0.5625 mrn . The
measured current ranges from 20,uA to 1200,uA with average
linear correlation (R-squared) of 0.9986. The power
consumption of the proposed circuit is 1.41 mW from 1.8 V
power supply.
Keywords-Biochemical sensor, potentiostat, current mirror,
current range detection circuit.
Introduction
In recent years, with the improvement in technology,
medical instrwnents has ground-breaking development. The
public has gradually raised their requirement for health care
condition. Therefore, the demand for user-friendly medical
monitoring systems is increasing. The core architecture of this
kind of medical device is the biomedical sensor which has
several features such as high specificity, high sensitivity, and
instant output response. By changing different sorts of sensor
interfaces, various measuring purposes can be achieved. Users
can know about their physical conditions faster and more
conveniently than before with the help of medical devices
enhancing the probability of early treatment and prevention of
diseases. For a general biomedical sensor, the concentration of
analyte in the test solution is the basis of disease diagnoses.
Thus, a potentiostat consists of three electrode (working,
reference, and counter electrode) is applied to detect the
concentration [1]. By placing the electrode of the potentiostat
into the test solution, chemical reaction caused by potential
change will produce current flowing through the proposed
circuit. The current value is proportional to the concentration
of analyte. Hence, a current sensing circuit is required.
Circuit Implementation
The architecture of the proposed circuit shown in Fig.
consists of a current conveyor, a current mirror, a current range
detection circuit, and a current to digital converter. The
function works will be described in the following sections.
This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology,
Republic of China, under Grant #MOST 103-2220-E-006 -007.
978-1-4799-5127-71$31.00@)2014IEEE - 196-
Digital
Input Current to Digital
code
Isensor Converter
output
Fig. 1 Block diagram of the proposed circuit.
A. Current Conveyor
When measuring the current flowing through the working
electrode of the potentiostat, the current conveyor [2] is used to
maintain the potential of the working electrode to be stable.
B. Current Mirror
When measuring the input current, the linearity of the output
current data is the most important item and must be taken into
consideration. Therefore, the first step is to reduce the input
current to an appropriate current range by a current mirror. To
meet the design specification, in which the input current lsensor
is from 20 ,uA to 1200 ,uA, a three ratio reduction structure is
presented. The current value is normalized to the same range
from 0.25 ,uA to 1 ,uA with better linearity. The current flows
through the three current paths are denoted as Is, 1M, and h,
which are the mirrored current of the original input current
lsensor. The current ratios of Is, 1M, and h to lsensor are designed
as 1180, 11320, and 111200 respectively.
C. Current Range Detection Circuit
The structure of the current range detection circuit is shown
in Fig. 2. Similar to the structure of current mirror, this circuit
is also attached to the current conveyor. First, the sensor
current lsensor is mirrored by the p-type MOS transistors so that
the current flowing through the resistor RJ and R2 are identical
to lsensof' Therefore, the voltages of VRJ and VR2 are determined
by the product of the sensor current lsensor and the resistance
value of RJ and R2 respectively. The resistance of RJ is 2 kQ,
and that of R2 is 8 kQ, Vref is set to be 0.64 V. Outl and Out2
are the signal outputs indicating which current range is
selected. Switchl and Switch2 are transmission gates with
same structure but the latter one is placed inversely. If the
control signal is low, Switch1 turns on, vice versa. The
function of Switch2 is inverted. If lsensor is less than 80 ,uA,
Outl and Out2 remain low, only the current path Is flows
through. If lsensor is in the range from 80 ,uA to 320 ,uA, Outl
remains low and Out2 changes to high, only the current path 1M
flows through. If lsensor is larger than 320 ,uA, both Outl and
ISOCC2014
Out2 are changed to high, only the current path h flows
through. The value of h equals to one of the three currents each
time.
16 f==:'''''
''"=:
d
I ='
; " =,
.......... Theorelfcal line
----
---,- --, ,--- ,

Current Conveyor
08
OUll

--
, :
06

Oui2 04 >

;: :
t ••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Fig. 4 Linear relationship between both Outl and Out2 at low level.

IT

Fig. 2 Structure of the current range detection circuit.

D. Current to Digital Converter

This ciucuit consists of a current to time converter, a counter,

and a register, and its function is to generate digital output
codes.

currenl(uA)
Experimental Results
Fig. 5 Linear relationship between Outl at low level and Out2 at high
level.
The circuit has been fabricated in TSMC 0.18-,um CMOS
process. Fig. 3 shows the micrograph of the Ie. The chip area
2
is 0.75xO.75 mm • The relationship between the input current
to corresponding reciprocal time values obtained from digital
output codes are shown in Figs. 4 to 6. The trend lines and
theoretical lines of the output data are depicted in these figures.
In addition, the R-squared values are also shown in the figures.
Table I shows the comparison with other works of current
sensing architecture.

currenl(uA)

Fig. 6 Linear relationship between both Outl and Out2 at high level.

TABLE I
Comparison of Performance

Specifications This work [3] [4] [5]

Process (pm) 0. 18 0.5 0.5 0.35

Supply voltage (V) 1.8 5 3 5, 3.3

Clock frequency (Hz) 100M 1M lOOk lOOk

I pA- 100 fA-
Input current range 20 pA-1200 pA 0- 12 pA
IpA 1 pA
380!,m
Power consumption
Fig. 3 Micrograph of the chip. 1.4 1 0.5 0.45- 1.2 5
(mW)
Core area (mm2) 0.5625 1.2 1 9

Conclusion References
[I] P. M. Levine, P. Gong, R. Levicky, and K. L. Shepard, "Active CMOS
In this paper, a current range detection circuit for sensor array for electrochemical biomolecular detection," iEEE 1.
electrochemical sensing was presented. By using a DC current Solid-Slale Circuits, vol. 43, pp. 1859- 187 1, July 2008.
[2] H. S. Narula and J. G. Harris, "A time-based VLSI potentiostat for ion
source generator to conduct the measurement, a comparison
current measurement," IEEE Sensors 1.,vol. 6, pp. 239-247, Apr. 2006
chart of input current value to output code can be established.
[3] A. Bandyopadhyay, G. Mulliken, G. Cauwenberghs, and N. Thakor,
This study with small area and micro-ampere sensing range is "VLSI potentiostat array for distributed electrochemical neural
available for different potentiostat systems which can be recording," in Proc. IEEE iSCAS, May 2002, pp. 740-743.
integrated into multifunction biomedical devices. The [4] M. Stancacevic, K. Murami, A. Rege, G. Cauwenberghs, and N. Thakor,
measured current range achieves from 20 ,uA to 1200 ,uA and "VLSI potentiostat array with oversampling gain modulation for
has good linearity with average R-squared value of 0.9986 wide-range neurotransmitter sensing," iEEE Trans. Biomed. Circuits Syst.,
vol. I, pp. 63-72, March 2007.
while consuming 1.41 mW from 1.8 V power supply.
[5] C. Y. Huang, "Design of a voltammetry potentiostat for biochemical
sensors," Analog inlegr. Circ. Sig. Process, vol. 67, pp. 375-381, June
20 1 1

978-1-4799-5127-71$31.00@)2014IEEE - 197 - ISOCC2014