EMGamplifiers

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

EnvelopeDetection
Wewouldnowliketoaddacircuitthatwillgiveusa runningaverageoftheamplitudeoftheEMG signal.Thefirststepincalculatingtheamplitudeof thi signal this i l i isto t rectify tif it, it soweonly l seethe th positive iti swingsofthesignal.Youshouldbefamiliarwiththe useofdiodestorectifysignals.However,diodes needapproximately700mVofforwardbiasbefore theybeginconducting,andoursignals(after amplification)arelessthanthis. Instead,wemustuseaprecisionrectifiercircuit, asshown h i inFig. Fi 13.34 13 34in i Sedra S d and dSmith. S ith You Y can buildthiscircuitusing1N4148diodes.Connectthe inputofthiscircuittotheoutputofyourhighpass filter. Next,weneedtosmooththerectifiedsignalto generateanenvelopeofthesignal,asshown below.

PrecisionRectifierCircuit

Forpositive i i VIdiode di d D2 conducts d and dcloses l the h negative i feedback f db kloop l around dthe h opamp.Virtual i l groundthereforewillappearattheinvertinginputterminal,andtheopamp's Vo willwillbeclampedat onediodedropbelowground.ThisnegativevoltagewillkeepdiodeD1 off,andnocurrentwillflowinthe feedbackresistanceR2.Itfollowsthattherectifieroutputvoltagewillbezero. A VI goesnegative, As i the h voltage l atthe h inverting i i i inputterminal i lwill illtend dtogonegative, i causing i the h voltageattheopamp'soutputterminaltogopositive.ThiswillcauseD2tobereversebiasedandhence cutoff.DiodeD1,however,willconductthroughR2,establishinganegativefeedbackpatharoundtheop ampandforcingavirtualgroundtoappearattheinvertinginputterminal.Thecurrentthroughthe f db kresistance feedback i R2 is i equal ltothe h currentthrough h hthe h i inputresistance i R1.Thus Th for f equal lresistors i outputV0=VI.

EnvelopeDetectioncont.
Wewilladdalowpassfiltertotherectifier,asshowninFig.13.35in Sedra andSmith.(Notethatthefirstopampinthisschematicforms theprecisionrectifier.)Notethatthiscircuitcanamplifyaswellas filter:Theg gainissetby yR4/ /R3 ( (thecircuitisinherently yinverting), g),and thecutofffrequencyissetbyfc =1/(2R4*C).UseR3 =10k,and selectcomponentvaluesthatgiveyouagainbetween10and20,anda cutofffrequency q yintherange g of0.5Hz 2Hz. Itisinterestingtomeasuretypicalvoltagelevelsfromyourenvelope signalfornomusclecontraction,weakmusclecontraction,andstrong musclecontraction. contraction

LEDdisplayofmusclecontraction strength h
YoucancreateafourLEDdisplaytoactas g indicator.Thefour amusclestrength LEDswillactasathermometerdisplay withnoEMGactivity,allLEDswillbe dark.ThenastheEMGactivityincreased p moreandmoreLEDswill inamplitude, lightup.Toaccomplishthis,2bitanalog todigitalconverterisneeded. Essentially,youcreatefourthresholds, shownconceptuallyashorizontallinesin theexample ThiswilltriggeradifferentLEDwhenthe envelopecrosseseachthresholdpoint. F comparing For i two t voltages lt and d producingadigital(greaterthanor lessthan)output,aLM339quad comparatorchipcanbeused.