Bio-Potential Amplifiers

‫ احمد محمد الدسوقي مراد‬/‫االسم‬

352110023/‫الرقم االكادمي‬

Medical Electronics
Dr. Ebrahim A .El-hamid
What is Bio-potential Amplifier
Amplifiers are an integral part of Electronic devices and modern Instrumentation
for measuring Bio-potentials. As the name indicates, Amplifiers are used to
increase the signal strength while maintaining high fidelity. The measurements
include voltages that are at low levels and high source impedance.
Bio-electric signals are generally low in amplitude. Amplifiers that are specifically
designed for processing this type of Bio-potentials are known as Bio-potential
Amplifiers. The outputs from such amplifiers are used for analysis and they show
up as ECG, EMG or other Bio-electric waveforms. These amplifiers typically
process voltages but in some cases they process current.
The amplifier provides high impedance, high CMRR and thereby minimizes
loading effects.
This is the vital functionality of Bio-potential Amplifiers. For Biomedical
applications, Bio-amplifiers must meet the below mentioned requirements in
order to work incessantly.
To measure Bio-potential, electrodes are placed on Human skin as shown in the
signals from the Electrodes pass on to the Amplifier stage. Amplifier helps in
minimizing , eliminating most of the signals interfering with the measurement of
Bio-potentials and final readout is obtained.

Basic Requirements for Bio-potential

Amplifier
The basic requirements for Bio-potential Amplifiers include:
 High input impedance. Typically, they range between 2 MΩ to 10 MΩ. Greater
the
 impedance value, lower the distortion of the signal.
 Every Bio-amplifier must contain Isolation and Protection circuits for safety
purposes especially to prevent patients from macro and micro-electric shocks.
 Output impedance should be low to drive an external load with minimal
distortion.
 Most Bio-potential Amplifiers are differential.
 Signals are recorded using bipolar electrodes that are symmetrically allocated.
 CMRR (Common Mode Rejection Ratio) must be high as they ride on a large
offset signal and to reduce interference from common-mode signals.
 The gain must be calibrated for each measurement.
 An ideal Bio-amplifier must be free from noise and distortion.
 A constant gain must be maintained throughout the entire bandwidth range.

Types of Bio-potential Amplifier

There are different types of special circuits used as Bio-potential Amplifiers or Bio-
Amplifiers. They are:
 Differential Amplifier
 Operational Amplifier
 Instrumentation Amplifier
 Chopper Amplifier
 Isolation Amplifier

Differential Amplifier
These are used to amplify the difference between the voltages applied to its
inputs. The circuits are of two types.
Amplifiers built using Op-Amps.
Amplifiers built using either FET’s (Field Effect Transistors) or BJT’s (Bipolar
Junction Transistors).

Operational Amplifier
These are multistage amplifiers which are interconnected and occupies minimal
space even though it consists of many Transistors, Resistors, and FET’s. They are
available in the form of an Integrated Circuit (IC).

Instrumentation Amplifier
It consists of 3-amplifiers in the circuit. The input to the amplifier is the output
from the Transducer. A non-inverting amplifier is connected to each of the input
of the Differential Amplifier. Non-inverting amplifiers are the ones on the left side
of the diagram. The non-inverting amplifiers together form the input of the
instrumentation amplifier.
The third op-amp is called the difference amplifier and is the output of the
instrumentation amplifier. The difference between the two input signals forms
the output V . V and V are the inputs to Op-amp 1 and Op-amp 2 respectively.
Atypical application of these amplifiers includes Biomedical applications such as
Bio-potential Amplifier. High gain and high impedance are attained using these
amplifiers which are crucial in medical instruments to determine the health
condition of an individual.

Chopper Amplifier
Noise and drift are the two major issues encountered when recording Bio-
potentials. Noise is caused by the movement of the patient or due to the
recording device. A DC Amplifier hits a sudden peak in the output when the input
is zero. A Chopper Amplifier samples the problem of drift in DC amplifiers.

Isolation Amplifier
These are also known as Pre-amplifier isolation circuits. It provides electrical
isolation for the safety of the patient. It prevents accidental shocks and increases
the input impedance of the patient’s monitoring system.

How does Bio-potential Amplifier Work

Various stages which represents Bio-potential Amplifier . The Electrodes (Bipolar)
are placed on the patients skin which provide transition between the ionic flow of
currents in biological tissue and electronic flow of current in the Amplifier. The
measurement of Bio-potentials is critical and due to relative movements of
electrode and tissue, it gives rise to electrode offset potential and
electrode/tissue impedance .Thus , two
interference signals are generated which are successfully eliminated at later
stages of the amplification.
The signal from the electrodes pass on to the pre-amplifier stage which helps in
minimizing, eliminating most of the signals interfering with the measurement of
Bio-potentials. High Pass Filter and Low Pass Filter eliminates interference signals
like electrode Half-cell potentials and Pre-amplifier offset potentials. It also
reduces noise amplitude. Biosignal should not be distorted or attenuated and
hence Filters are used.
In the Isolation Amplifier stage, galvanic decoupling of the patient from the
measuring equipment is served. It prevents Galvanic currents from deteriorating
Signal to Noise Ratio and provides safety to the patient from electrical hazards.
Transformer, Optical or Capacitive Couplers are used in Analog Isolation
Amplifiers, to transmit signal through the isolation barrier. On the other hand,
Digital Isolation Amplifiers use Voltage and frequency converter to digitize the
signal before it is transmitted.
Recording of the Bio-potentials in the last stage is done with electrical systems
which produce strong electrical and magnetic fields. Hence the system is
capacitively coupled and the current flows to the ground electrode.

Applications of Bio-potential Amplifier

The applications of Bio-Amplifiers include:
 They are majorly used in medical instrumentation systems such as ECG, EMG,
CT scan equipment, Patient hospital monitor.
 They are also used in Electromyogram integrator’s, Cardio tachometers, Vector
 Cardiograph.
 They are used in Bio-telemetry, Holter Recorder and other devices to
determine the specific health condition of a patient.

Advantages of Bio-potential Amplifier

The advantages Bio-Amplifiers are:
 Monitored to understand heart health.
 Displays ECG waveform.
 Instrumentation amplifiers give accurate testing and measurement. They do
not require input impedance to be matched. This is the reason for using these
amplifiers for testing and measuring a wide variety of equipment.
 Bio-potential Amplifiers are very easy to use and stable. These are ideal for
long term usage.
 They don’t necessarily depend too much on various factors that influence the
output at the later stages. The Instrumentation Amplifiers work with just
input.
 The Bio-potential Amplifiers are highly scalable.
 Even a small input can be amplified to a greater extent at the input level.

Disadvantages of Bio-potential
Amplifier
The disadvantages of Bio-Amplifiers are:
 Sometimes, there could be minor distortion or noise in the output.
 The system often depends on special cables to remove the noise.
 Superimposing of original is the only concern when the noise gets transmitted
for a long-rang.