Biomedical Electronics- Bio-electric Amplifiers

Chapter: 3

Bio-electric Amplifiers

Syllabus: Bio-electric amplifiers, Carrier amplifiers, Optically coupled amplifiers, Current

loading type isolation amplifiers, Chopper amplifiers, Differential chopper amplifiers.

1. Bio-electric Amplifier
Bio-electric Amplifiers (or Bio-potential Amplifiers) also called Bio-Amplifiers are specifically
designed for processing of Bio-electric signals as they are low in amplitude.

1.1. 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 Fig. 1.1. 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.

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Fig. 1.1 – Schematic Representation of Bio-potential Measurement

1.2. 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.

1.3. Types of Bio-potential Amplifier

There are different types of special circuits used as Bio-potential Amplifiers or Bio-Amplifiers.
They are:
 Carrier Amplifier

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 Isolation Amplifier
 Optical Isolator
 Chopper Amplifier
 Differential Amplifier
 Operational Amplifier
 Instrumentation Amplifier

1.4. How does Bio-potential Amplifier Work?

Various stages which represent Bio-potential Amplifier are shown in the Fig. 1.2. The Electrodes
(Bipolar) are placed on the patient’s skin which provides 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. Bio-signal should not be distorted
or attenuated and hence Filters are used.

Fig. 1.2 – Block Diagram of Stages of Bio-potential Amplifier

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Biomedical Electronics- Bio-electric Amplifiers

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
(SNR) 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.

1.5. 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.

1.6. 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.

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Biomedical Electronics- Bio-electric Amplifiers

1.7. 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-
range.

2. Carrier Amplifier
Carrier amplifier is a direct-current amplifier in which the dc input signal is filtered by a low-
pass filter, then used to modulate a carrier so it can be amplified conventionally as an
alternating-current signal; the amplified dc output is obtained by rectifying and filtering the
rectified carrier signal.

3. Isolation Amplifier
These amplifiers are also known as Pre-amplifier isolation circuits (Symbol shown in Fig. 3.1). 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.

Fig. 3.1 – Symbol of Isolation Amplifier

The isolation amplifier usually composed of the following (Fig. 3.2):

 Input Amplifier
 Modulator

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Biomedical Electronics- Bio-electric Amplifiers

 Isolation Barrier
 Demodulator
 Output amplifier

In isolation amplifier modulation schemes include amplitude, voltage-to-frequency, duty cycle,

pulse width, and others. Electrical energy on the modulator side is converted to some "non-
electrically conductive energy in the barrier and then converted back to electrical energy on the
demodulator side.

Fig. 3.2 – Basic Circuit Design of Isolation Amplifier

The isolation barrier can be:

 Inductive (i.e., Magnetic Transformer),
 Optical (i.e., Opto-coupler),
 Capacitive,
 Heat Transfer

4. Optical Isolator
An opto-isolator (also called an opto-coupler, photo-coupler, or optical isolator) is
an electronic component that transfers electrical signals between two isolated circuits by using
light. Opto-isolators prevent high voltages from affecting the system receiving the
signal. Commercially available opto-isolators withstand input-to-output voltages up to 10 kV and
voltage transients with speeds up to 25 kV/μs.
A common type of opto-isolator consists of an LED and a phototransistor in the same opaque
package. Other types of source-sensor combinations include LED-photodiode, LED-LASCR,

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and lamp-photo-resistor pairs. Usually opto-isolators transfer digital (on-off) signals, but some
techniques allow them to be used with analog signals.

Fig. 4 – Schematic diagram of an opto-isolator showing source of light (LED) on the left,
dielectric barrier in the center, and sensor (phototransistor) on the right.

5. 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.

Fig. 5.1 – Chopper Amplifier Circuit (Block diagram)

The chopper amplifier helps to remove the noise and dc drift in high-gain amplifiers which are
used for very weak bio-potentials.

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Biomedical Electronics- Bio-electric Amplifiers

Fig. 5.2 – Chopper Amplifier Circuit

6. Differential Amplifier
These are used to amplify the difference between the voltages applied to its inputs.

Fig. 6 – Differential Amplifier Circuit

The differential amplifier circuits are of two types.
 Amplifiers built using Op-Amps.

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Biomedical Electronics- Bio-electric Amplifiers

 Amplifiers built using either FET’s (Field Effect Transistors) or BJT’s (Bipolar Junction
Transistors).

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

Fig. 7 – Symbol of Operational Amplifier

There are many circuit configurations using op amps as the active device, but only three basic
classes of voltage amplifiers exist:
 Inverting Amplifier
 Non-inverting Amplifier
 Unity Gain Non-inverting Amplifier

8. Instrumentation Amplifier
An Instrumentation amplifier (Ins-amp) is basically a differential amplifier, but with high input
impedance so that it can faithfully reproduce voltage signals from any source. The idea is that
there should not be significant voltage drop in the output impedance of the source, almost all the
source voltage should be dropped across the input impedance of the amplifier. A differential
amplifier is a basic circuit to pick up and amplify a small signal in presence of a relatively large

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Biomedical Electronics- Bio-electric Amplifiers

background noise. However, it is only possible if the noise is the same at two electrical points,
which carry the signal, with respect to a third point. That is the noise should be common to both
the input terminals. To clarify, suppose a small signal, of the order of a few mV, appears
between two electrical terminals. Now if an external noise with respect to a third terminal
appears on both the above two terminals with equal magnitude and phase then it is possible to
eliminate the noise. Instrumentation amplifiers are used in industry as well as in bioelectrical
measurements.

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.

Fig. 8.1 – Basic Instrumentation Amplifier Circuit

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 out. V1 and V2 are the
inputs to Op-amp 1 and Op-amp 2 respectively. A typical 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.

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Biomedical Electronics- Bio-electric Amplifiers

8.1. Theoretical Background of Instrumental Amplifier

Figure 8.2 shows the basic circuitry of an instrumentation amplifier. The amplifier consists of
three operational amplifiers. It has two inputs V1 and V2 and one output Vout, all referenced to
ground or common (0 V). Here the analysis is performed on the basis of ideal assumptions for
op-amps i.e. common mode gain, Acm is zero.

Here the output is proportional to the voltage difference between the two inputs. The amplifier
has two stages. The 1st stage has a differential input and also has a differential output (double
ended input and double ended output) while the 2nd stage has a differential input and a single
ended output.

+Vcc

U1:A
8

3
V1
1
2
4

TL072 R6 +Vcc (+12 V)

R1 10k
10k

-Vcc R4 -Vcc

10k U2:A
4

R2 BAT1
2.2k 2 Vout 6V
1
3
8

R5 TL072
R3 GND
10k 10k BAT2
6V
+Vcc
U1:B
R7
4

4.7k
6
7
-Vcc (-12 V)
5
V2
8

TL072 RV1
10K

Fig. 8.2 – Schematic Diagram of an Instrument Amplifier

8.2. Necessary Equipment for Instrumental Amplifier

The list of the essential equipment for instrumental amplifier is given below:
 IC: TL072 (2 pcs).
 Resistors: 10K (5 pcs), 2.2K & 4.7K.
 Preset resistor: 10K.
 Battery: 6V battery (2 pcs).

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Biomedical Electronics- Bio-electric Amplifiers

 Others: Jumper wires and connecting wires, Multimeter, Oscilloscope &

Function generator.

8.3. Circuit Analysis of Instrumental Amplifier

In figure 8.2, the 1st stage has both differential input and differential output given by,
V2'  V1'  A1 (V2  V1 ) (1)
st
Where the 1 stage gain,

A1  1  2 R1 R2 (2)
In figure 1, R1 =R3=10K and R2=2.2K

The 2nd stage has a differential input and single ended output given by,

Vout  A2 (V2'  V1' ) (3)

Where 2nd stage gain,

A2  R6 R4 (4)
It is assumed that the common-mode gain is zero and R6 R4  ( R7  RV 1) R5

Where, R6=R4=10K, R7=4.7K, R5=10K, RV1= 10K trimmer

So the overall gain is,

Ad  A1 A2  (1  2 R1 R2 )( R6 R4 ) (5)
If the common-mode gain, Acm is not zero then,

Vout  Ad (V2  V1 )  Acm Vcm (6)

Where,

V1  V2
Vcm  (7)
2
8.4. Introducing Non-zero Common Mode Gain
The common mode input voltage V cm is given by the average of the two input voltages V1 and
V2, i.e., as given in Eq. 7,
V1  V2
Vcm 
2
If the common mode voltage gain Acm is not zero then we will have a contribution from V cm as
well, as given in Eq.6. In Eq.6, if the differential input voltage is zero, i.e., if V2 – V1 = 0, then

Vout = AcmVcm (8)

This gives a way of measuring Acm.

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8.5. Design Considerations for CMRR

CMRR should be as large as possible, and for an ECG amplifier, it should be > 60 dB, and for
EEG it should be >100dB. In the 2nd stage of the amplifier two ratios, R4 / R3 and R4' / R3'
(figure 8.1), associated with the two inputs of the differential amplifier are assumed to be equal.
This is essential to get a high value of CMRR. However, in practice it is almost impossible to
have two exactly equal fixed resistors, so this condition is achieved manually, through
experiment. Therefore, R4' is configured as a variable resistor in series with a fixed resistor, and
a maximum CMRR is achieved through experimental adjustment of the variable resistor.

Problem-3.8.1: Find the overall gain of an Instrumentation Amplifier (Fig. 8.2) if the following
resistor values are used: R1 = 10 kΩ, R2 = 500 Ω, R4 = 10 kΩ, and R6 = 100 kΩ.
Solution: According to Fig. 8.2 we get that, the 1st stage gain,
A1  1  2 R1 R2
nd
And the 2 stage gain,
A2  R6 R4

Now we get that the overall gain of the Instrumentation Amplifier is:
Ad  A1 A2  (1  2 R1 R2 )( R6 R4 )

So, the overall gain, Ad = (1+40)(10) = 410

Problem-3.8.2: Find the overall gain of an Instrumentation Amplifier (Fig. 8.1) if the following
resistor values are used: R1 = 15 kΩ, R2 = 1 kΩ, R3 = 20 kΩ, and R4 = 200 kΩ.
Solution: According to Fig. 8.1 we get that, the 1st stage gain,
A1  1  2 R1 R2
nd
And the 2 stage gain,
A2 = R4/R3
Now we get that the overall gain of the Instrumentation Amplifier is:
Ad  A1 A2  (1  2 R1 R2 )( R4 R3 )

So, the overall gain, Ad = (1+30)(10) = 310

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