College of Engineering, Pune-05

Department of Electronics and Tele-

Communication
 Certificate

This is to certify that the project titled “Digital

Blood Pressure Meter” has been successfully
completed by

Shraddha Pandhe (504036)

Madhura Soman (504052)
Pradeep Patil (504039)
Neelesh Balani (504001)

during the academic year 2007-2008 as part of

term work in “Electronic Design and Mini-
Project”.

Guide
Prof. S.P Mahajan
( E & TC Dept, C.O.E.P)
 Acknowledgements:

We would like to express our sincere thanks to

Prof. Mr. S.P. Mahajan who guided us through our
entire project and encouraged us at every stage.
We are also grateful to Prof. Mrs. C.V. Joshi (HOD
E&TC Dept, C.O.E.P) for making us available
college labs whenever required.

We would like to take this opportunity to

thank Prof. Mrs. More for granting us the facility
to use the Impact Electronics lab for testing and
troubleshooting.
Introduction
Digital portable blood pressure monitor device is used to measure user's
blood pressure and heart rate by making use of an inflatable hand cuff. The device
is consisted of three main parts: external hardware (such as cuff, motor, valve, and
lcd), analog circuit, and microcontroller. The analog circuit converts the pressure
value inside the cuff into readable and usable analog waveforms. The MCU
samples the waveforms and performs A/D conversion so that further calculations
can be made. In addition, the MCU also controls the operation of the devices such
as the button and lcd display. Since we have the word 'portable' in our title, all of
the components are put together in one package which allows a user to take it
anywhere and perform a measurement whenever and wherever he/she wants.

Block Diagram Representation:

The diagram above shows how our device is operated. The user will use
buttons to control the operations of the whole system. The MCU is the main
component that controls all the operations such as motor and valve control, A/D
conversion, and calculation, until the measurement is completed. The results are
outputted through the LCD screen for the user to see.
Concept of Blood Pressure:
Usually when the doctor measures the patient's blood pressure, he pumps air
into the cuff and uses stethoscope to listen to the sound of flow of blood in the
artery of the patient's arm. At the start, the air is pumped until the pressure inside
the cuff blocks the artery completely and no blood flows through it. Now, the
doctor opens the valve manually and releases the air inside the cuff at a steady rate.

Systolic pressure point: The pressure point at which the blood starts flowing
through the artery ‘in pulses’, when the air in the handcuff is released gradually is
called Systolic Blood pressure. Normal systolic reading is 120mm of Hg.

Diastolic pressure point: The pressure point at which the blood flow in the
artery becomes streamline (i.e. smooth flow) is called Diastolic Blood pressure.
Normal diastolic reading is 80mm of Hg.

Methodology used for measurement of Blood Pressure:

To perform a measurement, we make use of “oscillometric”. The air is
pumped into the cuff to be around 160 mmHg. After that, the air is gradually
released from the cuff causing the pressure in the cuff to decrease. As the cuff is
deflated at a steady rate, blood starts flowing and the tiny oscillations in the air
pressure of the arm cuff are observed. The systolic pressure will be the pressure at
which the pulsation starts to occur. We make use of MCU to detect the point at
which this oscillation happens and then record the pressure in the cuff.The pressure
in the cuff continues to decrease. The diastolic pressure will be taken at the point in
which the oscillation disappears.
Design:
A] ANALOG CIRCUIT:

The analog circuit is used to amplify both the DC and AC components of

the output signal of pressure transducer so that we can use the MCU to process the
signal and obtain the pressure readings of the user. The pressure transducer
produces the output voltage proportional to the applied differential input pressure.
The output voltage of the pressure transducer ranges from 0 to 40 mV. But in our
application, we want to pump the arm cuff to only 170 mmHg (approximately
21.33 kPa). This corresponds to the output voltage of approximately 20 mV. Thus,
we choose to amplify the voltage so that the DC output voltage of DC amplifier
has an output range from 0 to 3.6V. Thus, we need a gain of approximately 180.
Then the signal from the DC amplifier will be passed on to the band-pass filter.
The DC amplifier amplifies both DC and AC component of the signal. The filter is
designed to have sufficient gain at around 1-4 Hz and to attenuate any signal that is
out of the pass band. The AC component outputted from the band-pass filter is the
most important factor, which is used to determine when to capture the
systolic/diastolic pressures and when to determine the heart rate of the user. The
final stage is the AC coupling stage. We use two identical resistors to provide a DC
bias level at approximately 2.5 volts. The 47 µF capacitor is used to couple only
AC component of the signal so that we can provide the DC bias level
independently.
B] Hardware Design:

1) Pressure Transducer

We use the MPX2053DP pressure transducer from Motorola to sense the

pressure in the arm cuff. The pressure transducer produces an output voltage
proportional to the applied differential input pressure. We connect the tube from
the cuff to one of the input ports of the transducer and we leave another input open
to air. This way, the output voltage will be proportional to the difference between
the pressure in the cuff and the air pressure in the room. The transfer characteristic
is shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: Output voltage vs. Differential input pressure

2) DC Amplifier

Since the output voltage of the pressure transducer is very small, we have to
amplify the signal for further processing. We use the instrumentation amplifier
AD620 from Analog Devices. The resistor RG is used to determine the gain of the

amplifier according to the equation . Since we need the gain of

approximately 180, we choose the resistor RG to be 270 ohms. This will give us the
gain of 183 according to the equation. However, we have measured the gain from
the finished circuit, and the measured gain is 178. The schematic of the amplifier is
shown in figure 2.

Figure 2: Schematic of DC amplifier

3) Band-pass Filter

The band-pass filter stage is designed as a cascade of the two active band-
pass filters. The reason for using two stages is that the overall band-pass stage
would provide a large gain and the frequency response of the filter will have
sharper cut off than using only single stage. This method will improve the signal to
noise ratio of the output. The schematics for both filters are shown in figure 3.

Figure 3: Bandpass Filter Stage

Band-pass filter :

The lower frequency cutoff is

The higher frequency cutoff is

The mid-band gain of the first filter is

Amplifier stage: The output of the band pass stage is given to the amplifier circuit

that provides a gain of

Thus, the overall gain is 360. Combining this gain with the gain from the
DC amplifier, the total AC gain for the circuit is 64,800.The choice of high and
low cut-off frequency is good enough to give us very clean AC waveform.

4) AC coupling stage

The ac coupling stage is used to provide the DC bias level. We want the DC
level of the waveform to locate at approximately half Vcc, which is 2.5 V. The
schematic for AC coupling stage is shown in figure 4. Given this bias level, it is
easier for us to process the AC signal using the on-chip ADC in the micro-
controller.

Figure 4: AC coupling stage for DC bias level

C] SOFTWARE DESIGN:

1) Design for the operating control

The block diagram for the operating control is consisted of a total of 4 states.
We first start at the START state where the program waits for the user to push the
button-1 of the device. Once the button-1 has been pushed, the measurement
process begins by inflating the hand cuff. While the cuff is being inflated
smoothly, the air will be pumped into the cuff until the pressure inside the cuff
reaches 160 mmHg. After that, the motor will be stopped and the air will be slowly
released from the cuff. Once the MCU has obtained the values of systolic, diastolic
and heart rate, the valve will be open to release air from the cuff quickly. Then it
will report the result of the measurement by displaying the obtained data on the
LCD screen. After that if the Button-1 is pushed the program will return to the
START state again waiting for the next measurement. Note that if the emergency
button is pushed, the black button needs to be pushed in order to return to the start
state.

2) Design for measuring the metrics

Once the motor pumps the air into the cuff until the pressure exceeds 160
mmHg, the motor then stops pumping more air and the cuff is deflated through the
slightly-opened valve. The pressure in the cuff starts decreasing approximately
linearly in time. At this point, the program enters the measurement mode. The
MCU will looks at the AC signal through the ADC0 pin and determines the
systolic, diastolic pressure values and the heart rate of the user respectively. For
this project, we perform the measurement using the oscillometric method, in which
the program monitors the tiny pulsations of the pressure in the cuff. The state
diagram of the measurement is shown in figure 6

Figure 6: State Diagram for Measurement

2.1) Systolic Pressure Measurement

After the motor pumps the pressure up to 160 mmHg which is

approximately more than the systolic pressure of normal healthy people, the cuff
starts deflating and the program enters Systolic Measure state. In this state, the
program will look at the AC waveform from ADC0 pin. When the pressure in the
cuff decreases to a certain value, the blood begins to flow through the arm. At this
time if we look at the oscilloscope, we will see the onset of the oscillation. The
systolic pressure can be obtained at this point.

The way we program this is that we set a threshold voltage of 3.25V for the
AC waveform. At the start, there is no pulse and the voltage at the ADC0 pin is
constant at approximately 2.5 V. Then when the pressure in the cuff decreases until
it reaches the systolic pressure value, the oscillation starts and grows. We then
count the number of pulses that has maximum values above the threshold voltage.
If the program counts up to 4,it records the DC voltage from pin ADC1. Then it
converts this DC voltage value to the pressure in the cuff to determine the systolic
pressure of the patient.

From the transfer characteristic of the pressure transducer and the measured
gain of the DC amplifier, we can determine the systolic pressure by looking at the
DC voltage of the ADC1 pin. We will explain the conversion procedure here. Let's
the DC voltage that we read off of the ADC1 pin be ‘DC_voltage', and the gain of
the DC amplifier be ‘DC_gain'. Then the differential voltage that comes out of the
DC amplifier is calculated as

From the pressure transducer's transfer characteristic given in figure 1 in the circuit
design part, we can calculate the pressure based on the transducer_voltage. The
slope of the typical curve is calculated as

Thus, the pressure in the cuff in the unit of kPa can be calculated as

Then we can convert the pressure back to mmHg unit by multiplying by

Thus the pressure in the mmHg unit is expressed as

.
Combining these conversions all together, we obtain the formula for converting the
DC voltage to the pressure in the cuff as

After the program finishes this calculation, it enters the Rate measure state
to determine the pulse rate of the patient.

2.2) Pulse Rate Measurement

After the program finished calculating the systolic pressure, it starts

monitoring the pulse rate of the patient. We determine the pulse rate right after
determining the systolic pressure because at this point the oscillation of the
waveform is strongest. The program samples the AC waveform and records the
time interval when the values of the AC waveform cross the voltage value of 2.5
volts. The program then takes the average of five time intervals so that the heart
rate will be as accurate as possible. After the heart rate is determined, the program
then enters the Diastolic measure state, in which it tries to measure the diastolic
pressure of the patient.

2.3) Diastolic Pressure Measurement

After the pulse rate is determined, the program enters the Diastolic Measure
state. Here we define the threshold for the diastolic pressure. While the cuff is
deflating, at some point before the pressure reaches diastolic pressure, the
amplitude of the oscillation will decrease. To determine the diastolic pressure, we
record the DC value at the point when the amplitude of the oscillation decreases to
below the threshold voltage. This is done by looking at the time interval of 2
seconds. If the AC waveform does not go above the threshold in 2 seconds, it
means the amplitude of the oscillation is actually below the threshold. The DC
value can then be converted back to the pressure in the arm cuff using the same
procedure as described in the Systolic Pressure Measurement section.

After the program finishes calculating the diastolic pressure, it will display
the information acquired from the measurement on the LCD. Then the program
will open up the valve and the cuff will deflate quickly. The measurement ends at
this point of execution.
Component selection criteria:

a) Selection of pressure sensor :

This is the most important component in our circuit, so proper care

has been taken while selecting this component.

Selected pressure sensor is – MPX2053dp.

Parameters we considered:

1) Gauge type or absolute :

Two types of sensors are available in market. One that compare

pressure with vacuum (gp) and other with atmosphere (dp). Its suitable for us
to compare pressure with atmosphere So we selected dp package.

2) Offset voltage:

We want offset voltage of sensor very low compared to its full scale
output voltage. MPX2053 has offset voltage value of 0.1mv, which is tolerable
in our case.

3) Full scale voltage:

Output voltage varies from 0.1mv (0mmhg) to 17mv (160mmhg).

4) Sensitivity:

Sensitivity is a major factor when you are measuring “blood

pressure”. Sensitivity of mpx2053 is sufficient and satisfy our consideration.

Sensitivity value is- 0.8mv/kpa

b) Selection of instrumentation amplifier:

Selected component- AD620

Parameters considered

1) Maximum Gain:

As output of pressure sensor stage is in “milivolt”, we need more gain

so that output voltage at this stage can be recognized by “adc” of the
microcontroller used. We designed it to operate at a gain of 180.

2) Offset voltage:

We want offset voltage as low as possible. So AD620 with typical

offset value of 30 micro volt is suitable.

C) Selection of op-amp:

For two band pass stages we require two op-amps .

Ic selected- 741

Parameters considered:

1) Cost:

This ic is very cost effective as substitute for this ic i.e. opa277 costs
around Rs.550. approximately 100 times more than 741 which also gives
desired output.

Critical design consideration:

Most critical part of our project is to decide threshold voltage value

for measuring systolic and diastolic readings accurately.

After proper analysis of calibration we selected 3.25V as our

threshold value.
Observation at important test points:

1) Pressure sensor:

Output voltage range- 0.1mv to 17mv

2) AD620:

Output voltage range- 22mv to 3.3V

3.1) band pass stage:

Ac voltage waveform of frequency 1.2 to 2 hz with peak value of

around 200 mv

3.2) Amplifier stage:

Ac voltage waveform of same frequency with peak value of

around 2V

3.3) DC coupling stage:

This ac waveform riding on a dc voltage waveform of constant 2.5v

Aesthetic consideration:

Location of motor:

We tried to keep our motor as long as possible from our circuit so

that any inductive effect produced will not deviate our readings and vibration
will not damage our circuit.
Front panel design:

1) Switches:

We have put three switches for

a) power on
b) reset

2) LCD display :

We have used 16 * 2 , 4- bit lcd for displaying systolic and diastolic

blood pressure readings.
Code :

/*****************************************************

This program was produced by the

CodeWizardAVR V1.25.6 Standard

Automatic Program Generator

© Copyright 1998-2007 Pavel Haiduc, HP InfoTech s.r.l.

http://www.hpinfotech.com

Project :

Version :

Date : 27/03/2008

Author : F4CG

Company : F4CG

Comments:

Chip type : ATmega32

Program type : Application

Clock frequency : 16.000000 MHz

Memory model : Small

External SRAM size : 0

Data Stack size : 512

*****************************************************/

#include <mega32.h>

#include<stdio.h>
#include<stdlib.h>

// Alphanumeric LCD Module functions

#asm

.equ __lcd_port=0x15 ;PORTC

#endasm

#include <lcd.h>

#include <delay.h>

#define ADC_VREF_TYPE 0xE0

// Read the 8 most significant bits

// of the AD conversion result

unsigned char read_adc(unsigned char adc_input)

ADMUX=adc_input | (ADC_VREF_TYPE & 0xff);

// Delay needed for the stabilization of the ADC input voltage

delay_us(10);

// Start the AD conversion

ADCSRA|=0x40;

// Wait for the AD conversion to complete

while ((ADCSRA & 0x10)==0);

ADCSRA|=0x10;

return ADCH;

// Declare your global variables here

int c4,c5,c6;

int threshold1,j;

int temp,threshold2,dia;
unsigned char adc0,adc1;

float p,p1,p2,p3,p4;

char lcd_output[17];

int sys,state;

void init();

void rate();

void diastolic();

void systolic();

void deflate();

void main(void)

// Declare your local variables here

// Input/Output Ports initialization

// Port A initialization

// Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In

// State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T

PORTA=0x00;

DDRA=0x00;

// Port B initialization

// Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In

// State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T

PORTB=0x00;

DDRB=0xff;
// Port C initialization

// Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In

// State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T

PORTC=0x00;

DDRC=0x00;

// Port D initialization

// Func7=In Func6=In Func5=In Func4=In Func3=In Func2=In Func1=In Func0=In

// State7=T State6=T State5=T State4=T State3=T State2=T State1=T State0=T

PORTD=0x00;

DDRD=0xff;

// Timer/Counter 0 initialization

// Clock source: System Clock

// Clock value: Timer 0 Stopped

// Mode: Normal top=FFh

// OC0 output: Disconnected

TCCR0=0x00;

TCNT0=0x00;

OCR0=0x00;

// Timer/Counter 1 initialization

// Clock source: System Clock

// Clock value: Timer 1 Stopped

// Mode: Normal top=FFFFh

// OC1A output: Discon.

// OC1B output: Discon.

// Noise Canceler: Off

// Input Capture on Falling Edge

// Timer 1 Overflow Interrupt: Off

// Input Capture Interrupt: Off

// Compare A Match Interrupt: Off

// Compare B Match Interrupt: Off

TCCR1A=0x00;

TCCR1B=0x00;

TCNT1H=0x00;

TCNT1L=0x00;

ICR1H=0x00;

ICR1L=0x00;

OCR1AH=0x00;

OCR1AL=0x00;

OCR1BH=0x00;

OCR1BL=0x00;

// Timer/Counter 2 initialization

// Clock source: System Clock

// Clock value: Timer 2 Stopped

// Mode: Normal top=FFh

// OC2 output: Disconnected

ASSR=0x00;

TCCR2=0x00;

TCNT2=0x00;
OCR2=0x00;

// External Interrupt(s) initialization

// INT0: Off

// INT1: Off

// INT2: Off

MCUCR=0x00;

MCUCSR=0x00;

// Timer(s)/Counter(s) Interrupt(s) initialization

TIMSK=0x00;

// Analog Comparator initialization

// Analog Comparator: Off

// Analog Comparator Input Capture by Timer/Counter 1: Off

ACSR=0x80;

SFIOR=0x00;

// ADC initialization

// ADC Clock frequency: 1000.000 kHz

// ADC Voltage Reference: Int., cap. on AREF

// Only the 8 most significant bits of

// the AD conversion result are used

ADMUX=ADC_VREF_TYPE & 0xff;

ADCSRA=0x84;

// LCD module initialization

lcd_init(16);

init();

while (1)
 {

p1=0;

p2=0;

// Place your code here

PORTB=0x03;

lcd_clear();

// while ((int)p2<170)

for(c4=0;c4<50;c4++)

delay_ms(19);

if(c4%5!=0)

adc1=read_adc(1);

p2=(int)adc1;

//p=p2*5/256;

p3=p2*1.25;

if(p1<=p2)

sprintf(lcd_output," p2= %-i",(int)p2);

lcd_gotoxy(0,0);

lcd_puts(lcd_output);

// sprintf(lcd_output," p= %-i",p);

// lcd_gotoxy(1,1);
// lcd_puts(lcd_output);

//

sprintf(lcd_output,"%-i",(int)p3);

lcd_gotoxy(1,5);

lcd_puts(lcd_output);

p1=p2;

else

p2=p1+1;

sprintf(lcd_output,"%-i",(int)p2);

lcd_gotoxy(1,1);

lcd_puts(lcd_output);

p1=p2;

PORTB=0x02;

delay_ms(50);

// adc_data1=(float)(((float)adc1)/256*5)+ 10;

lcd_clear();

lcd_gotoxy(0,0);
 lcd_putsf("deflating");

for(j=0;j<370;j++)

switch(state)

case 1: systolic();

break;

case 2 : rate();

break;

case 3: diastolic();

break;

case 4:deflate();

PORTB=0x00;

delay_ms(500);

lcd_clear();

sprintf(lcd_output," systolic = %-i",(int)sys);

lcd_gotoxy(0,0);

lcd_puts(lcd_output);

sprintf(lcd_output," diastolic = %-i",(int)dia);

lcd_gotoxy(0,1);

lcd_puts(lcd_output);
 delay_ms(250);

};

void deflate()

PORTB=0x00;

delay_ms(5);

void init()

state=1;

p4=0;

temp=100;

threshold1=135;

sys=830;

threshold2=120;

dia=840;

c5=0;

c6=0;

lcd_clear();

lcd_gotoxy(0,0);

lcd_putsf("press 1:start, 2:stop, 3:reset");

delay_ms(10);

}
void systolic()

lcd_clear();

lcd_gotoxy(0,0);

lcd_putsf("systolic");

delay_ms(100);

adc0=read_adc(0);

p=(int)adc0;

while(c5<4)

if(p>threshold1)

c5++;

if(c5>=4)

adc1=read_adc(1);

temp=(int)adc1;

sys=temp*1.25;

state=2;

}
}

void diastolic()

lcd_clear();

lcd_gotoxy(0,0);

lcd_putsf("diastolic");

delay_ms(4);

adc0=read_adc(0);

p4=(int)adc0;

if(p4<threshold1)

c5++;

if(c5>=10)

adc1=read_adc(1);

temp=(int)adc1;
 dia=temp*1.25;

state=4;

void rate()

lcd_clear();

lcd_gotoxy(0,0);

lcd_putsf("rate");

delay_ms(4);

c6++;

if(c6>200)

state=3;

// void rate()

// {

// c6++;

// delay_ms(4);

//

// if (p>treshold)

// {

// count++;

// }

//}
Results:
The results of the project are as expected. If the user maintains a correct
posture, during the operation, the device can measure blood pressures (both
systolic and diastolic) and heart rate without any problem.

1) Duration of measurement

From the start until all the measurements are done, it takes about 1.5
minutes. However, this also depends on each individual and how the cuff is worn.
For each person, the amplitude of the waveforms may differ causing the
operating time to vary. Still, the difference is small and is usually within 10
seconds.

2) Accuracy

As mentioned earlier, all the measurements are mainly dependent on

the waveforms from the circuit and the pressure sensor is very sensitive to even a
slight movement of the user. As a result, it is possible that sometimes the device
fails to obtain the desired data, especially if the user does not stay still or wears
the cuff improperly.

Regarding the three result values (systolic, diastolic and heart rate),
some of them have more success rate than the others. For the heart rate, the
success rate is very high for getting an accurate value. To find the heart rate, we
need to find the period of the AC waveform. And since the period of heart rate
stays pretty much constant through out the measurement, it is relatively easy to
obtain an accurate result. To find the pressure values, however, are harder
because they depend on the amplitude of the waveform, and the amplitude
varies a lot during the measurement. However, if the user stays still and wears the
cuff right, the measurement are usually successful 8 time out of 10 tries (80%
success rate).

Another topic that is worth mentioning is that the method of

measurement that we used is called the oscillometric method. It is usually
deployed in commercial products due to the reliability. However, this method is
not as accurate as the auscultatory method, in which the doctor uses the
microphone to listen to the noise in the artery.

3)Safety in Design

Since this is a medical instrumentation device, the safety of the user

is the first concern to us. The cuff while driven by a 5 volts motor can squeeze the
arm really hard and cause injury if being used improperly.

For the first safety design, the microcontroller is programmed in the

way such that if the pressure in the cuff is greater than 160 mmHg, the motor will
stop. For most people, the pressure at 160 mmHg will only cause a little
discomfort to the arm. This desgin makes sure that the pressure inside the cuff
will never exceed the maximum limit of 160 mmHg.

4)Interference with other people's designs

Since our project only performs measurements on an individual (user),

there should not be any interference produced by the device besides the sound of
the motor running (which is very quiet compared to regular motors).

5) Usability

Our project should be useable to most adults, since it is basically a regular

blood pressure monitor. The instructions on LCD screen are pretty straight
forward and easy to understand. Since this device is built to be portable, it can be
used anywhere and any time as long as the battery still has power.

The cuff that we use is appropriate for the average adult arm size (9-
13 inches in circumference). Thus the arm size that is out of this range may not
give the accurate measurement. Due to our budget constraints, we do not have
many cuff size for our project

For people with health problem, especially on blood pressure or

heart, it is not recommended to use this device, because we have only tested it
with healthy people. Therefore, for the maximum safety of the user, this device
can only be used by the people who are high B.P. patients.

Conclusions:
1) Analysis and expectations

Most of the designs that we proposed before we started the project

are met in our final result. In fact, we are really happy and satisfied with the final
result of our project. The measurements are acceptably accurate (please see
'Accuracy' section in results part). The operations of the device are reliable and
have not produced any major problems. The power consumption of the device is
decent as we have already tried lots of measurements (more than 20) and the set
of two 9-volt batteries has not died yet.

Regarding the batteries and power consumption, we encountered a

big problem in this issue while testing the device. At the first place, we used one
battery to power the MCU board, and the other to power the circuit, valve and
motor. However after a couple of tries, the battery that powered the circuit and
motor lost its power and could not provide a constant voltage during the
measurement. In other words, the voltage across that battery drops constantly as
the motor runs. As a result, the voltage that feeds all the chips in the circuit are
not high enough and causes the circuit to malfunction.

So we fixed this problem by separating the battery that runs the valve
and motor from the rest of the circuit. Then we use the battery that supplies the
MCU board to power the circuit instead. Now that the battery that supplies the
valve and the motor is separated, it ensures that there will be no voltage drop in
the circuit while the motor is running. This way, the power consumption of the 2
batteries will be more balanced, since the circuit and the MCU do not consume
much power.

2) Intellectual property considerations

All the circuits and the codes are originally designed by us. The
topologies of the circuits are the one discussed in standard textbooks.

Cost:

Component Quantity Cost per piece Cost

MPX 2053 1 Rs. 1200/- Rs. 1200/-
AD620 1 Rs. 100/- Rs. 100/-
Motor/valve 1 Rs. 250/- Rs. 250/-
Hand Cuff 1 Rs. 80/- Rs. 80/-
LCD 1 Rs. 110/- Rs. 110/-
IC LM741-2 2 Rs. 5/- Rs. 10/-
Tantalum Capacitor 3 Rs. 15/- Rs. 45/-
Resistor 10 20 Paise Rs. 02/-
IC LM 7805 1 Rs. 5/- Rs. 05/-
ATMega 32 1 Rs. 140/- Rs. 140/-

Total Rs. 1842/-

 References:

Data Sheets

AD620 (for DC Amplifier) from Analog Devices

http://www.analog.com/UploadedFiles/Data_Sheets/37793330023930AD620_e.
pdf

MPX2050 (Pressure Transducer) from Motorola

http://www.elemar.pl/mpx2052.pdf

OPA2277 (used in band-pass filter design) from Texas Instrument

http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/opa277.pdf

PT178NR105V (voltage regulators) from Texas Instrument

http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/pt78nr105.pdf

World wide web.