BIOSIGNAL
AMPLIFIER
Types
BIO AMPLIFIERS
Types:
● Instrumentation Amplifier
● Chopper Amplifier
● Carrier Amplifier
● Isolation Amplifier
Differential Amplifier
● Most common medical amplifier in input stage
● Three input terminals
○ one is reference
○ Two live terminals
● EEG, ECG etc require differential amplifiers
● Also used in recording stage
● Rejects common mode signals
● High Stability- insensitive to temperature changes
● Versatile use
Differential amplifier
Configuration
● R1, R2 and T1,T2 forms a bridge.
● If balanced the output voltage will
be zero.
● If a signal is applied between 1 &
2
○ It will present a voltage out of phase
with each other wrt GND.
○ Differential mode voltage
● Thus if collector current of T1
increases, that of T2 decreases.
● There will be potential difference
at output terminals.
Differential Amplifier
Configuration
● If signal applied is equal in phase
and amplitude => Common Mode
Signal
● Change in collector current will be
identical
● Ri1, Ri2 - Current limiting
● Bridge remains balanced
● Output voltage is zero
Difference Mode Signals - High Gain
Common Mode Signals -No output
Differential Amplifier
Configuration
Common Mode Rejection- Ability of this configuration to reject common
voltage from giving a voltage at output terminals
CMRR - Ratio of common mode input to difference mode input to elicit
same response
Opamp differential
Configuration
CMRR = 60 db to 90 dB
Bioamplifiers require more
CMRR
Go for Instrumentation
amplifier
Instrumentation Amplifier
Improvement over differential amplifier
● Has higher input impedance- draws little current from the source
● Higher CMRR much above 90 dB
Instrumentation Amplifier
Instrumentation Amplifier
● Precision differential voltage
gain device
● Buffered amplifier followed by
differential amplifier
● Basic construction: three
opamps, seven resistors
Instrumentation Amplifier
● A3 and 4 equal Resistors -
differential amplifier with gain 1
● Rvar to balance out common mode
voltage
● Rg to determine gain as per the
formula 1+2/a
a=Rg/R
● V0 is proportional to difference of
two voltages
Instrumentation Amplifier
Characteristics
● Voltage gain from diff input (V1-V2) to single ended output
determined by single resistor
● Input resistance is very high - independent of gain
● V0 does not depend on common mode voltage
Instrumentation Amplifier
Advantages in the biomedical field applications
● Extremely high input impedance
● Low bias and offset currents
● Good performance even if source impedance changes
● Very high CMRR
● Very high slew rate
● Low power consumption
Eg IC : ICL7605, LH0036, μA725
Carrier Amplifier
Combines the advantages:
● Good low freq. Response of a direct coupled amplifier
● Zero drift as in RC coupled amplifier
Carrier Amplifier
Carrier Amplifier
● Oscillator + capacitance coupled
amplifier
● Oscillator excites transducer with an
AC-2.5 kHz voltage(capacitance based pressure
transducer)
● The carrier AC signal gets modulated
by the parameter being measured.
● The amplitude modulated carrier is
capacitor coupled to amplifier
● Signal is demodulated with phase
sensitivity.
● It drives the recording system
Chopper Amplifier
Combines the advantages:
● Good low freq. Response of a direct coupled amplifier
● Zero drift as in RC coupled amplifier
Chopper Amplifier
Working:
A chopping device
converts slow
varying/DC to AC.
AC signal is amplified.
Its demodulated to
obtain amplified low
freq. signal
Chopper Amplifier
● R2, C2 Low pass signal extracts the
low frequency components
● A chopping signal is generated by an
oscillator
● Its chopped and fed to AC amplifier
(A1)
● The amplified signal is demodulated
and filtered.
● A2 is a second stage DC amplifier
● The high freq. Component of the
input is direct coupled to A2.
Chopper Amplifier
● Minor offset and bias current due to imperfect chopping
● A feedback capacitor may be used to limit the full bandwidth and
eliminate high frequency noise.
● Insensitive to component changes, temperature change, power
supply change etc
● Suitable for use with thermocouple, strain gauge, thermistors etc.
Isolation Amplifier
Used to provide protection against leakage currents
Break the ohmic continuity between the input and output of the
amplifier
Isolation: Different Supply voltages and different grounds on either sides
of isolation.
● Transformer isolation
● Optical Isolation
● Capacitive isolation
Isolation Amplifier
Transformer Type
It uses either frequency modulated or a pulse width modulated carrier signal.
Internally it has 20 KHz oscillator, transformer, rectifier and filter to provide supplies
for each isolated stages.
Rectifier- input to primary OPAMP.
Transformer- couples the supply.
Oscillator – input to secondary OPAMP.
A low pass filter is used to remove the other frequency components.
Isolation Amplifier
Transformer Type
Image: https://www.tankonyvtar.hu/hu/tartalom/tamop412A/2011_0079_jobbagy_biomedical/ch03s06.html
Isolation Amplifier
Transformer Type
High common mode rejection ratio
High linearity
High accuracy
Isolation Amplifier
Transformer Type-Applications
MEDICAL
Patient Monitoring and Diagnostic
Instrumentation
INDUSTRIAL
Ground Loop Elimination and
Off-ground Signal Measurement
NUCLEAR
Input/output/Power Isolation
Isolation Amplifier
Optical Type
● The biological signal is converted into
a light signal by LED for further
process.
● It has patient circuit which is the input
circuit and a phototransistor which
forms the output circuit.
● Each circuit is battery driven.
● The input circuit converts the signal to
light and the output circuit converts
the light back to signal.
Isolation Amplifier
Optical Type
● Original frequency and amplitude is
obtained.
● High linearity.
● No modulator or demodulator is
needed as it couples optically.
● Improves patient safety
Isolation Amplifier
Capacitive Type
● Capacitive coupling is an elementary term describing high pass filtering
● The coupling capacitor forms a high pass filter with the input impedance of
the amplifier
● A carrier is modulated with the signal, and then ac-coupled across the high
voltage barrier.
● A demodulator across the barrier recovers the signal.
● The capacitors must be able to withstand high dc voltages over long periods
of time without breaking down.
Isolation Amplifier
Capacitive Type
Isolation Amplifier
Capacitive Type
● Ripple noises are removed.
● It avoids device noise, radiated noise and conducted noise.
● High immunity to magnetic noises.
● Useful for analog systems.
● Has high gain stability and linearity.
Comparing Isolating Amplifiers
● Commonly used
○ Transformer isolation amplifier
● Cost
○ Optical- low cost due to less components
○ Capacitor coupled- high cost
● Isolation voltage
○ Optical- low (800V)
○ Transformer- medium (1200V)
○ Capacitance- high (2200V)
Comparing Isolating Amplifiers
● Isolation resistance
○ Optical- 10^12
○ Transformer- 10^10
○ Capacitance- 10^12
● Gain stability and Linearity
○ Optical- 0.02%
○ Transformer- between 0.005% and 0.02%
○ Capacitance- 0.005% (best)
References
1. Biomedical Instrumentation - Book by R. S Khandpur and Raghbir
Khandpur
2. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/4360784.pdf
3. https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/114970/
2/b1024234x.pdf
4. http://cas.ee.ic.ac.uk/people/dario/files/E302/4-amplifiers.pdf
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