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An Overview . . .

• Basic components of a biomedical system

• Electrodes

• Amplifiers

• ECG

• EEG

• EMG

• ERG
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Block Diagram of a Generalised Bio – Medical Instrument System

Measurement
o

Biological Signal
Transducer
System Processor o Monitoring

o
o Diagnosis
o

Surgery

Feedback
Transform
Therapy

Surgical
Tool

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• Each switch position connects an instrument for measurement, for

monitoring, for diagnosis, for therapy or for surgery with the signal
processor

• Transducer – converts one form of energy or signal to another, its

output is always an electrical signal

• Signal Processor – amplifies, modifies or changes the electrical

output of the transducer

• In the case of therapy, the signal is fed back to the biological system
through the feedback transform

• In the case of surgery, a surgical tool is in contact with the biological

system

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Electrodes
• Employed to pick up the electrical signals of the body

• Hall cell potential – voltage developed at an electrode electrolyte interface

• Perfectly polarised electrodes – no net transfer of charge occurs across the

metal electrolyte interface

• Perfectly non polarisable electrodes – unhindered exchange of charge is

possible across the metal electrolyte interface

• Electrolyte paste - used to reduce the contact impedance

Types

• Microelectrodes

• Depth and Needle Electrodes

• Surface Electrodes
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Microelectrodes

• Have smaller diameter

• No damage to the cells during insertion

• To measure the potential they, located within the cell

• Reference electrode is outside the cell

Types

• Metallic

• Non Metallic (Micropipet)

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Metal Microelectrode

RA
o A
RS

o B

RB
CD

CWA CWB

RFA RFB

RWA RWB

EA EB

RIN REX
EC( t)

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• RA denotes the resistance of the connecting wire (negligible)

• RS denotes the resistance of the shaft of the microelectrode (also negligible)

• RFA, RWA and CWA constitute the impedance of the microelectrode tip –
intracellular fluid interface

• RIN is the resistance of the intracellular fluid

• RB denotes the resistance of the connecting wire to the reference electrode

(negligible)

• RFB, RWB and CWB constitute the impedance of the reference electrode tip –
extra cellular fluid interface

• REX is the resistance of the extra cellular fluid

• CD is the distributed capacitance between the insulated shaft of the

microelectrode and the extra cellular fluid

• The capacitance between the tip of the microelectrode and the intracellular
fluid is negligible
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Equivalent Circuit

RFA

o A

CWA RWA

EC CD’

o B

E’ = EA - EB

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• Since the area of the reference electrode is many times greater than
the metal electrode’s tip whose area of cross section is very small, its
impedance is negligible

• The impedance of the microelectrode tip is inversely proportional to

the area of the tip and frequency

• When the electrode output is coupled with an amplifier, the low

frequency components of the bioelectric potential will be attenuated
if the input impedance of the amplifier is not high

• Thus when the input impedance of the amplifier is not high enough,
it behaves as a high pass filter

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Micropipet

RFA

ED EA
RT RA
o A
RWA CWA
RIN

EC
CD

RFB
REX

o B
RB
EB RWB CWB

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 • RA denotes the resistance of the connecting wire www.eeecube.com

• RFA, RWA and CWA constitute the impedance of the electrode –

electrolyte interface in the stem of the micropipet

• RT is the resistance of the electrolyte filling the tip of the micropipet

(very large)

• RIN is the resistance of the intracellular fluid

• RB denotes the resistance of the connecting wire to the reference

electrode

• RFB, RWB and CWB constitute the impedance of the reference

electrode – electrolyte interface

• REX is the resistance of the extra cellular fluid

• CD is the distributed capacitance between the fluid in the pipet and

the extra cellular
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Equivalent Circuit

RT

o A

EC CD’

o B

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• CD’ is the equivalent of distributed capacitances

• When the micropipet is coupled with the amplifier terminals A and

B, the membrane potential EC is coupled with it via a high series
resistance ‘RT’ and a moderate shunt capacitance CD’ along with
electrode potentials

• The impedance of the electrode places a limit on the response time

of the circuit

• It behaves as a low pass filter when the input impedance of the

amplifier is not high enough

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Simple Differential Amplifier

Rf

V1 Ri e1
o .
o
o .
V2 e2
Ri

Vo
Rf

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Since the input current to an ideal amplifier is zero and by the principle
of superposition, the voltage existing at the input terminal 1 is,

Rf Ri
e1 = V1 + Vo
Ri + Rf Rf + R i

Voltage at input terminal 2 is,

Rf
e2 = V2
Rf + R i

Since the potential difference between the two input terminals of an

ideal amplifier is forced zero by the feedback through Rf, the voltage e1
must be equal to e2

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Therefore,

Rf Ri Rf
V1 + Vo = V2
Ri + R f Rf + Ri Rf + Ri

Rf
(or) Vo = (V2 - V1)
Ri

• Thus the circuit amplifies the difference of the input signals V1 and V2

• There is no virtual ground at the input to the amplifier in this circuit

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Modes of operation of the differential amplifier

• Single ended mode – either V1 (non inverting mode) or V2

(inverting) equal to zero

• Differential mode – the two input signals are equal but have

opposite polarity

• Common mode – the input signals are identical both in amplitude

and phase

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Isolation Amplifier

• Used to increase the input impedance of the monitoring system in

order to isolate the patient from the bio – medical instrument

• Used so that any electrical fault in signal conditioning or other

circuits does affect the patient

Some isolation amplifier circuits . . .

• Darlington Pair

• Bootstraping Circuit

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Darlington Pair

o - VBB o - VCC

RB RL

Q1
.Y
o .
X

Zi
Q2
Z
o

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Darlington Pair
• High input impedance with high current gain

• Two transistors Q1 and Q2 are connected in common emitter

compound connecting circuits

• The emitter terminal of transistor Q1 is directly connected to the

base of transistor Q2

• The collectors of both transistors share a common load RL

• Q2 provides negative feedback that serves to gain stabilize the

composite circuit

• The input impedance is very much higher greater than that of a

single common emitter stage
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Bootstraping Circuit

+ VBB

R1

C
Q1

o
Q2
R4

o
INPUT

R3 Re R2 Re
OUTPUT

o o

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Bootstraping Circuit

• A feedback network is connected in between the emitter of Q2 and

the collector of Q1

• The feedback voltage created b the bootstrap voltage dividing

network R1 and R2 is injected into the collector circuit of Q1

• An increase in signal level at the input of the circuit causes an

increase in signal through the divider at the collector, changing the
transistor’s bias point

• This further increases the input impedance

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 ECG Isolation Amplifier Circuit www.eeecube.com

STD
1mV
Guard
Transformer
. Modulator
.
Synchronous
D.C. Synchronous Driver
Demodulator
Amp Modulator

Lead Selector

High – Voltage and

Over – Voltage
Protection

+V

RA . Rect. 100 kHz

LA . Electrosurgery & Oscillator
Filter Filter
LL . Floating
. Common
RL
-V

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Transformer
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• The signals from the different leads are given to the low pass filter having a
cut off frequency of about 10 kHz

• This is followed by high voltage and over voltage protection circuits

• The signals are now into the lead selector switch which is used to derive the
required lead configurations

• Its output is given to a d.c. amplifier ( also used for calibration purposes )

• The primary of an isolated low capacitance power transformer is connected

with the 100 kHz oscillator

• The secondary of that transformer along with the rectifier and filter is used to
obtain isolated power supply of + 6V

• The synchronous modulator modulates the ECG signal from the d.c. amplifier

• Another transformer is used to deliver the output from the modulator to the
synchronous demodulator

• Its output is input to the power amplifier

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Medical Preamplifier Circuit

aR1

- R2 bR2
V1 1
o + V’o

R1
-
aR1 3 o
o +

Vout

- R2 bR2
2 o
o + V’’o
V2

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 • Amplifies the differential signal and rejects the common modewww.eeecube.com
signal

• Consists of three operational amplifiers

• First two are working in non – inverting mode, but their inverting terminals
are not grounded

• The feedback loops are connected with the inverting terminals

• The third acts as a differential amplifier

With this configuration we get

• High Stability

• High Fidelity

• High CMRR

• High input impedance

• By means of virtual ground, the inverting terminal of op amp 1 is fed by

voltage V2 through R1 and the inverting terminal of op amp 2 is fed by
voltage V through R1
1
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Chopper Amplifier

• Used to convert the d.c. or low frequency signal into a high

frequency signal

• Then this modulated high frequency signal is amplified by

conventional a.c. amplifier

• The amplified signal is demodulated and filtered to get amplified

d.c. or low frequency signal

Types

• Mechanical Chopper Amplifier

• Non – Mechanical Chopper Amplifier

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Chopper Amplifier Using a Mechanical Switch

P M
o A o

C D

o
S1
Vi Vo
o

o o
Q N

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• The chopper S1 is an electromagnetically operated switch or relay

• It connects alternatively the input terminal of the a.c. amplifier ‘A’ to the
reference terminal ‘Q’, which is usually connected to ground

• When the amplifier input terminal is connected with Q, it is short circuited

and the input voltage is zero

• When the chopper S1 is open, the amplifier receives the signal voltage from P

• Therefore the input to the amplifier consists of an a.c. voltage varying from
zero to the value of the input voltage

• A steady d.c. or slowly varying signal is chopped into a train of square wave
pulses having a frequency equal to the rate of the chopper

• After amplification the chopped signal is rectified with a diode ‘D’

• The rectified signal is then filtered and amplified d.c. is obtained at the
output terminals M and N

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 Non – Mechanical Photoconductive Chopper Amplifier
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Modulator Demodulator

AC Low – Pass
o o
Amp. Filter
Low Level
DC Input Amplified
PC1 PC4
DC Output
Photo Diodes

PC2
PC3

Neon Bulb Oscillator Neon Bulb

(1) (2)

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• The photoconductors or photodiodes are used as non – mechanical
choppers for modulation and demodulation

• When there is no light on the photoconductor, its resistance is so many

mega ohms, it is in the reverse bias and no current is allowed to flow
through it

• When there is incident light on the photoconductor its resistance is very

low, it is in the forward bias and current can easily flow through it

• Thus it acts as a switch by means of incident light

• An oscillator is present which drives two neon bulbs into illumination on

alternate half cycles of oscillation

• The neon bulb (1) gives flash of light on photoconductors PC1 and PC2
which are respectively connected at the input and the output

• The neon bulb (2) gives flash of light on photoconductors PC3 and PC4

• Low level d.c. is present at the input

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• Whenever light falls on PC1 its resistance decreases and input capacitor
charges

• When there is no light on PC1 and there is light on PC3, the input flows
through PC3

• By the alternate incident light, a square wave is produced across the

capacitor

• Its amplitude is proportional to the input and frequency is equal to the

frequency of the oscillator

• An amplified square wave voltage is obtained at the output of the amplifier

• The two photoconductors PC2 and PC4 in the amplifier output circuit
recover the d.c. signal by their demodulating action and the output
capacitor becomes charged to the peak of the output voltage

• Then this d.c. voltage is passed through a low pass filter to remove any
ripples and finally amplified d.c. output is obtained
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Electrocardiography

• ECG deals with the study of the electrical activity of the heart muscles

• Heart is divided into four chambers

• The top two are atria and the lower two are ventricles

• The right atrium receives blood from the veins and pumps it into the
right ventricle

• The right ventricle pumps the blood into the lungs where it is purified
and oxygenated

• The oxygen enriched blood enters the left atrium from which it is
pumped into the left ventricle

• Then the left ventricle pumps the blood into arteries through aortic
valve for circulation throughout the body
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• Each action potential in the heart originates at the Sino - Atrial (SA)
node which is situated in the wall of the right atrium and near the
entry of the vena cava

• Also called as Cardiac Pacemaker and generates impulses at the

normal rate of the heart, about 70 beats per minute at rest

• The action potential contracts the atrial muscle and the impulse
spreads through the atrial wall during a period of about 0.04 second
to the Atrio – Ventricular (AV) node

• The AV node acts as a “delay line” to provide timing between the

action of the atria and the ventricles

• Then a special conduction system carries the action potential to the

ventricular muscles
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• This system consists of a short common part (the bundle of His),

two bundle branches on each of the septum and fine Purkinje fibers

which arborize in the ventricular muscle

• The atria and ventricles are functionally linked only by the AV node

and the conduction system

• The AV delay is provided so that the atrial contraction can complete

the ventricular filling before the contraction of ventricles

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Physiological Nature of ECG Waveform

Origin Amplitude Duration

(mV) (seconds)

P Wave Atrial depolarisation or contraction 0.25 0.12 to 0.22

(P – R interval)

R Wave Repolarisation of the atria and the 1.60 0.07 to 0.1

(QRS depolarisation of the ventricles

complex)

T Wave Ventricular repolarisation 0.1 to 0.5 0.05 to 0.15

(Relaxation of myocardium) (S.T interval)

S–T Ventricular contraction

interval

U Wave Slow repolarisation of the < 0.1 0.2

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ECG Lead Configurations

• Usually surface electrodes are used with jelly as electrolyte between skin
and electrodes

• The potentials generated in the heart are conducted to the body surface

• The potential distribution changes I a regular an complex manner during

each cardiac cycle

• So standardised electrode positions are chosen

Types of electrode systems

• Bipolar Limb Leads (or) Standard Leads

• Augmented Unipolar Limb Leads

• Chest Leads (or) Precordial Leads

• Frank Lead System (or) Corrected Orthogonal Leads

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Bipolar Limb Leads

• In standard leads, the potentials are tapped from four locations

• Right Arm

• Left Arm

• Right Leg

• Left Leg

• The right leg electrode is used as ground reference electrode

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Standard Bipolar Limb Leads

Lead I Lead II

+ +
- -

Vout Vout

. .

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Lead III

+
-

Vout

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• Lead I Position – gives voltage drop from the left arm to the right arm

• Lead II Position - gives voltage drop from the left leg to the right arm

• Lead III Position – gives voltage drop from the left leg to the left arm

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The Einthoven Triangle

Lead I
- +
- Right Arm Left Arm -

Lead III
Lead II

+ +
Left Leg

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• The closed path RA to LA to LL and back to RA is called the
Einthoven Triangle

• According to Einthoven, in the frontal plane of the body the cardiac

electric field vector is a two dimensional one

• The ECG measured from any one of the three limb leads is a time
variant single dimensional component of that vector

• Along the sides of this triangle the three projections of ECG vector
are measured

• Further the vector sum of the projection on all the three sides is
equal to zero

• Thus, following Kirchoff’s law, the R wave amplitude of Lead II is

equal to the sum of the R wave amplitudes of leads I and III
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Augmented Unipolar Limb Leads

Lead aVR Lead aVL

+ +
- -

Vout Vout

. .

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Lead aVF

+
-

Vout

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Augmented Unipolar Limb Leads

• The ECG is recorded between a single exploratory electrode and the

central terminal which has a potential corresponding to the center of
the body

• Two equal and large resistors are connected to a pair of limb electrodes

• The center of this resistive network acts as central terminal and the
remaining limb electrode acts as the exploratory electrode

• A slight increase in the ECG voltage can be realized

The lead connections are

• augmented Voltage Right arm (aVR)

• augmented Voltage Left arm (aVL)

• augmented Voltage Foot (aVF)

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Calibration www.eeecube.com
o o

ECG Recording Set Up

1V 1M

1k

Lead
Defibrillator
Selector Bioamp
Protection Output
Circuit Unit

3
aVR
2
aVL
1 aVF

OFF C

CM Reduction
Amplifier

o Isolated
a.c. Isolation Power
Power
Power Transformer Supply
o Supply

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Electroencephalography

• Deals with the recording and study of electrical activity of the brain

• By means of electrodes attached to the skull of a patient, the brain

waves are picked up and recorded

Helps to diagnose

• Level of consciousness

• Sleep disorders

• Brain tumors

• Epilepsy

• Brain death

• Multiple sclerosis
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Block Diagram of EEG Recording Set Up

Input Amplifier Writer Trace

Pre – Control Driver

Input
Amplifier Unit Amplifier

Input Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Stage 5

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Electromyography

• Science of recording and interpreting the electrical activity of

muscle’s action potentials

• The electrical activity of the underlying muscle can be measured by

placing surface electrodes on the skin

• To record the action potentials of individual motor units, the needle

electrode is inserted into the muscle

• The EMG indicates the amount of activity of a given muscle or a

group of muscles and not an individual nerve fiber

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Block Diagram of EMG Recording Set Up

Oscilloscope

.
Input
EMG
Amp.
. Tape
Recorder
.

Speaker

A.F.
Amp.

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• The surface or needle electrodes pick up the potentials produced by

the contracting muscle fibers

Types of electrodes

• Bipolar – two surface electrodes

• Unipolar – one surface and one needle electrode

• The signals are displayed on a cathode ray oscilloscope

• The signals are also recorded in the tape recorder for future
reference

• The sounds from the loud speaker can be used to diagnose the
neuromuscular disorders

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Determination of conduction velocities in motor nerves

• The nerve function is examined directly at the various segments of the nerve by means of
stimulating it with a brief electric shock

• By measuring the latencies the conduction velocity is calculated

• Latency – elapsed time between the stimulating impulse and the muscle’s action potential

Procedure

• The EMG electrode and the stimulating electrode are placed at two points on the skin,
separated by a known distance l1

• A brief electrical pulse is applied through the stimulating electrode

• When the excitation reaches the muscle, this contracts with a short twitch

• The elapsed time t1, between the stimulating impulse and muscle’s action potential, is
measured

• Process is repeated for distance l2 < l1, the duration is t2 seconds

• The conduction velocity, v = l1 – l2

t1 – t2
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Electroretinography

• Recording and interpreting the electrical activity of eye

• All sense organs are connected to the brain but the eye has a special
relationship as the retina is the extension of the cerebral cortex

• Potentials within the eye can be easily recorded because of its

exposed position

• If the illumination of the retina is changed, the potential changes

slightly in a complex manner

• The recording of these changes is called the electroretinogram

• When light falls on the retina, the absorption of photons by photo

pigments localized in the outer segment of the retina’s
photoreceptors takes place
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• This causes the breakdown of photo pigments which results in the

liberation of ions that cause a change in the membrane potential

• This in turn results in the development of action potential that is

transmitted down the optic nerve

• This action potential is picked up by the electrodes and fed to the

bio amplifier and recorder

• The recording set up is similar to ECG

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