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Wireless Bio signal Acquisition Electrode module for EMG

Conference Paper · April 2018

DOI: 10.1109/ICICCT.2018.8473018

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 Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Inventive Communication and Computational Technologies (ICICCT 2018)
IEEE Xplore Compliant - Part Number: CFP18BAC-ART; ISBN:978-1-5386-1974-2

Wireless Bio signal Acquisition Electrode module for EMG

Mr.S.Logesh Kumar1, Mrs. M. Swathy2, Ms. Vidya.M3, Ms. Poojaa K4, Mr. Manikandan G5, Ms.Aarthi Jennifer A6
1. Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Dr.N.G.P Institute of Technology, Coimbatore
2. Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sri Sakthi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore
3. Assistant Professor, Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering, Sri Krishna College of Technology, Coimbatore
4. Undergraduate Student, Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering Dr.N.G.P Institute of Technology, Coimbatore
5. Undergraduate Student, Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering Dr.N.G.P Institute of Technology, Coimbatore
6. Undergraduate Student, Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering Dr.N.G.P Institute of Technology, Coimbatore
4.


Abstract— Electromyography measures muscle response to a shows some other challenges facing in current procedure
nerve stimulation of the muscle. Waveform/signals from the includes the wired connectivity of the electrodes on patient
muscle are widely used for the evaluation of neuromuscular to the device restricts the free mobility[1]; The entanglement
diseases. The main aim of this work is to eliminate the probe of probes due to more electrode connection in a particular
connection between electrode and equipment. This improves
mobility of patient (baby/athlete/ handicapped) and it reduces
area creates discomfort to the patient and also been a
the improper connection of probe with electrode. This wireless complex in handling for the caregiver; It can also increase
electrode technology helps the physician & technicians to the mental stress in patient during a diagnosis in fixed
visualize the patient data remotely and need not to present near position by facing the equipment and technician; It requires
the patient for analysis. Quantitative method is used to measure either the technician need to bring the instrument nearby or
the activity of muscle by signal acquisition, conditioning unit the patient (even handicap/physically ill person) need to go
and interfaced with the Wi-Fi module for communication.
Analog signal obtained and converted into digital value by
near the equipment[8] for diagnosis. This mainly suffers the
Arduino. The programs are designed with Arduino language neonates, athletes (can’t move freely due to probe
and incorporate in the board. Thus, the extracted value from connection) and handicapped (should move near to the
the EMG circuit is transmitted by Wi-Fi to thingspeak equipment every time while diagnosis) during diagnosis.
platform. Thingspeak platform is used for representing the
envelope of discrete output value based on activity of muscle.
The amplitude value in respect to time is calculated. The
contrast phenomenon is with the size of the electrode that fixes
in the arm. Components used in this method are designed in the
way which helps in the miniaturization for the development of
product.

Keywords- Electromyography, Electrode, Arduino, Wireless

technology
INTRODUCTION
In medical field, almost all preliminary diagnostic
procedures uses electrodes for the physiological information
acquisition of around 75-80% and over 13+million
individuals around the world involved in diagnosis by the
reference of bio signal. Especially, the non-invasive Fig 1 Challenges in current diagnostic procedure
electrode [9] is used in major diagnostic applications such
as, for the diagnosis of brain signal (EEG), eye movements This observational study brings in a revolutionary solution
(EOG), neuromuscular activity (EMG), cardiac signals by implementing a wireless technology [2] rather to the
(ECG), sleep disorders (PSG). Here one such diagnostic equipment directly on the electrode. It will create an impact
method for the evaluation of the neuromuscular activity by on a diagnostic field and improves the patient comfort
EMG is considered. The Electromyography is an electro level[3]. On a future scope, the replacement of every wired
diagnostic medical technique for evaluating and recording connection to the electrodes into a wireless acquisition unit
the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. The integrated on the electrode will promote a diagnosis into a
acquisition of electromyogram involves three electrodes [10] patient-friendly procedure [4]. Also in the product
for producing an informative diagnosis of the muscle action. development side, the miniaturization [6] plays a vital role.
The medical errors in this kind of procedures are due to Our proposed work is also designed in such a way that, it can
unintentional misplacement of electrodes. This may results in be altered as per the satisfaction of the future medical
loss of bio signal that reduces the quality in treatment. Fig 1 market.

978-1-5386-1974-2/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 1830

 Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Inventive Communication and Computational Technologies (ICICCT 2018)
IEEE Xplore Compliant - Part Number: CFP18BAC-ART; ISBN:978-1-5386-1974-2

I. LITERATURE SURVEY programmed as a USB-to-serial converter. The analog signal

Short range wireless power and data transmission offers a is given to the pin A0 (ADC).It gives a digital output. This
viable mean to power up implantable medical devices to digital output is interfaced with Wi-Fi module (ESP8266).
communicate with external unit across the skin. This discuss ESP8266 is a low cost Wi-Fi microchip with transmission
the several modulation schemes and transceiver circuits for control protocol (TCP) and internet protocol (IP). It is a
low power, carrier-less and robust WDT [1]. Patch antennas small module which allows microcontrollers to connect with
currently are receiving significant for integration into Wi-Fi network easily. Also makes simple TCP/IP
implantable medical devices. It gained attention to connections. It transmits the digital output value to
biocompatibility, miniaturization, patient safety, improved thingspeak platform. In thingspeak platform it display the
quality of communication. This provides the overview of the envelope of discrete output values with based on the activity
challenges and it discuss the ways in which they have been of muscles. The integrated circuit used in the methodology
dealt with the literature [2].This provides the problems of can be miniaturized for the future product scope.
noncontact ECG signal is with power line disturbance by
powered electronic equipment. This is got suppressed by the
signal conditioning method by using a capacitive electrodes
and get amplified signal. This is displayed in the Lab View
environment. This paper shows the suppression of the power
frequency disturbance is reduced with the improvement of
SNR [3].

II. PROPOSED METHODOLOGY

In this paper, we develop wireless acquisition of electrode Figure 2 Flow Diagram
module for EMG. This method uses surface
electrode/noninvasive electrode which is attached to the skin
portion, which measures the electrical activity in the tissue. It
sense and send the abnormalities and problems associated
with the muscles and nerves. Primarily the signal is obtained
by two non-invasive active electrode and one ground
electrode placed in the arm. The ground electrode is called
as reference electrode. The distance between the two active
electrodes is 1-2 cm. The reference electrode (at times called
the ground electrode) is necessary for providing a common
Figure 3 schematic representation of the module
reference. Power line interference noise is reduced by proper
placement of the ground electrode. This module is battery
operated and it is implemented in the intention of power
saving. Fix the 9V battery at the time of operation and switch
off when it is not in use. The signal acquisition circuit is
designed with the frequency limit which allows between
50Hz. The EMG have a frequency between 0–500 Hz. Here,
the signal acquired from the arm is given to signal
acquisition circuit (INA122).INA122 is a precision
instrumentation amplifier used for obtaining an analog EMG
Figure 4 Signal acquisition unit
signal. It has proper gain and more sensitive to record the
small changes that occurs in the muscle .A main advantage
of INA122 has the possibility to apply single voltage. The A.
signal must be conditioned in order to obtain the signal
S
without any distortion or interference [7]. The OPA2241
series are specifically designed for battery powered, portable
applications. This amplified signal is given to operation
amplifier (OPA2241). OPA2241 give conditioned analog
signal [5]. Both the amplifiers are used to amplify the signal.
The conditioned signal is sent to Arduino Uno. It has 14
digital input/output pins (of which 6 can be used as PWM
outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz ceramic resonator, a
USB connection, a power jack, an ICSP header, and a reset
button. The Uno differs from all preceding boards in that it
Figure 4a Technical interface of Arduino and ESP8266
does not use the FTDI USB-to-serial driver chip. Instead, it
features the Atmega16U2 (Atmega8U2 up to version R2)
In above Figure 3, The GPIO represents the General
978-1-5386-1974-2/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 1831
 Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Inventive Communication and Computational Technologies (ICICCT 2018)
IEEE Xplore Compliant - Part Number: CFP18BAC-ART; ISBN:978-1-5386-1974-2

Processing Input, Output. P.U represents the Processing unit.

The processor have a processing unit, control unit, register
and buses. Figure 4 represents the signal acquisition circuit
which is take from the cost effective Human machine
interface of electromyography article. In Figure 4a, the A.S
abbreviate as analog signal from signal acquisition unit
A. Technical specification of INA122
The INA122 is a precision instrumentation amplifier for
accurate, low noise differential signal acquisition. Its two-op-
amp design provides excellent performance with very low
quiescent current, and is ideal for portable instrumentation
and data acquisition systems. The technical features is given Figure 6 Top view of OPA2241 and configuration
by, C. Technical specification of Arduino UNO
The Arduino Uno is the most popular among other
Low quiescent current : 60µa development boards. It is based on the microcontroller
Wide power supply range ATmega328. The factor which make Arduino Uno differ
Single supply : 2.2v to 36v from others is that it does not use FTDI USB-to-serial driver
Dual supply : -0.9/+1.3v to ±18v chip. Instead it uses a microcontroller Atmega16U, which is
Common-mode range : (v-)-0.1v programmed as USB-to-serial converter. Its peripheral
Output swing : Rail-to-rail features includes 14 digital input/output pins (of which 6 can
Low offset voltage : 250µv max provide Pulse Width Modulation outputs), 6 analog inputs, a
Low offset drift : 3µv/°c max 16MHz crystal oscillator, a USB connector, a power jack, an
Low noise : 60nv/sqrt(hz) ICSP header and a reset button. The technical features is
Low input bias current : 25na max given by,
Pin : 8-pin dip, so-8 surface-mount Microcontroller : ATmega328
Ti integrated circuit is used for the future miniaturization Operating Voltage : 5V
purpose. Input Voltage (recommended) : 7-12V
Input Voltage (limits) : 6-20V
Digital I/O Pins : 14
Analog Input Pins : 6
DC Current per I/O Pin : 40 mA
DC Current for 3.3V Pin : 50 mA
Flash Memory : 32 KB
SRAM : 2 KB (ATmega328)
EEPROM : 1 KB (ATmega328)
Clock Speed : 16 MHz
Figure 5 Top view of INA122 and configuration
B. Technical specification of OPA2241
Designed for battery powered, portable applications. In
addition to very low power consumption (25µA), these
amplifiers feature low offset voltage, rail-to-rail output
swing, high common-mode rejection, and high open-loop
gain. The technical features is given by,
Micro power : Iq = 25µA
Operation : Single-supply
Output : Rail-to-rail (within 50mv)
Wide supply range
Single supply : +2.7v to +36v
Dual supply : ±1.35v to ±18v
Low Offset voltage : 250µV max
High common-mode rejection: 124db
High open-loop gain : 128db
Figure 7 Circuit Pin configuration of ATmega328P

978-1-5386-1974-2/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 1832

 Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Inventive Communication and Computational Technologies (ICICCT 2018)
IEEE Xplore Compliant - Part Number: CFP18BAC-ART; ISBN:978-1-5386-1974-2

Figure 8 Arduino UNO module and configuration Figure 10 Pin description of ESP8266
D. Technical specification of ESP8266 E. Arduino and Arduino Language
The ESP8266 WiFi Module is a self-contained SOC with The Arduino is an open platform where we can
integrated TCP/IP protocol stack that can give any work with the different microcontrollers. This is based on the
microcontroller access to your WiFi network. API (Application Programming Interface). It can able to
The ESP8266 is capable of either hosting an application or work with the digital, analog, serial communication functions
offloading all Wi-Fi networking functions from another and MATH functions. In microcontrollers, they have a
application processor. peripherals and inbuilt memory. The peripherals includes the
Wireless standards : 802.11 b / g / n analog to digital converters and UART. The language can
Modes support : STA / AP used in microcontroller are embedded C, C++, and Assembly
Protocol stack : TCP / IP, One socket;
language. The platform used called API platform. The pins
Supports standard : TCP / UDP Server and Client;
in microcontroller includes supply pin (Vcc, GND), digital
Supports serial port baud rate configuration:
pin, analog pin, special function pin and programming pins
1200/2400/4800/9600/38400/57600/74800/115200bps
Supports serial data bits : 5/6/7/8 bits; (JTAG). This programming pin is the program uploading pin
Supports serial parity : none; for the communication of program and microcontroller. In
Supports serial stop bits : 1/2 bit; PC the Arduino Integrated Development Environment is
Pin-compatible with : Arduino UNO, Mega; there in order to upload the programming language.
Arduino Pinout : 2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9/10/11/12/13; F. Pin functions in Arduino (API) and its syntax
ESP8266 GPIO Pinout : 0/2/4/5/9/10/12/13/14/15/16 /
The digital pin function to get the input digital values
ADC / EN / * UART TX / UART RX;
(pin 1, 2,3,4,5...)
KEY button : modes configuration;
Dual-Ports DIP switches : switching Arduino & ESP8266
pin mode() // input/output detection and analysis
WiFi operation current
digital write () // to send output
1. Continuous transmission operation: ≈70mA (200mA
digital read() // to read external input
MAX)
2. Idle mode: <200uA;
The analog pin is to get analog input values (pin A0,
Serial WiFi transmission rate: 110-460800bps;
A1, A2..,)
Temperature : -40℃ ~ + 125 ℃;
analog reference()
Humidity : 10%-90% non-condensing;
analog read() // read external to internal
Weight : about 20g (0.7oz);
analog write() // send some data to external world

The serial communication functions is deals with the

Universal Asynchronous Receiving and Transmission
(UART) which is used for define and configuration. The
MATH functions also in the Arduinos. The pin function is
only to input/output the values.

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figure 9 Pin configuration of ESP8266 A. Thingspeak platform

Thingspeak is the open source IoT platform with
MATLAB analytics. It is featured with collection of data in
private channels and it can share with the public channels
with secured network. It can able to work with the Arduino,

978-1-5386-1974-2/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 1833

 Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Inventive Communication and Computational Technologies (ICICCT 2018)
IEEE Xplore Compliant - Part Number: CFP18BAC-ART; ISBN:978-1-5386-1974-2

particle python, ESP8266 Wi-Fi module, raspberry pi, C. Communication of UART with Wi-Fi module
mobile apps and MATLAB. Thingspeak platform have a From the digital and analog pin functions in the
data exporting and storage feature which helps in the further Arduino the values of the input and output is taken out. The
analysis. It have a API (application programming interface) output from the Arduino is transmitted by Tx pin in the
key are the keys which helps to access our channel to store UART is given to the Rx pin in the ESP8266 (Wi-Fi
and retrieve data from things. It have a two keys; API Read module). Then the Rx pin in the ESP8266 is given to the Tx
key and API Write key. Thingspeak enables the sensor pin the Arduino for the communication. The antenna is
logging applications, location tracking applications. It connected with the cloud for the communication of the data.
receive the patient data in the encrypted form and also have Thus the data is given to the thingspeak platform for the
security by username and password with the GPS location representation of the EMG data
for obtaining the data for analysis. Figure 11 represents the D. Thingspeak platform output
general view of thingspeak platform
Thingspeak is the open source IoT platform. During
contraction and relaxation of muscle, the response will be in
the form of digital value from the Arduino. At the time of
contraction, the muscle activity will increase and the
myofibrils will stretch based on the strength given to the
muscles. This will increase the potential difference between
the two active noninvasive electrodes. From the electrode,
the voltage signal is taken and given to the signal acquisition
unit and conditioning unit. Thus the conditioned signal is
given to the Arduino and Wi-Fi module. The corresponding
plot will be display in the EMG monitoring system in the
Figure 11 General view of thingspeak platform
thingspeak platform. During contraction, the peak will be
increased and at the time of relaxation, the muscle will return
A. Process of thingspeak with Arduino and ESP8266
back to the normal state. The peak value will be decreased
Thingspeak have an ability to share data and
and displayed in thingspeak platform. In the thingspeak
remote control in real time. To share a data, the transmitter
platform, the receiver can visualize the location of
pin in ESP8266 is connected with the D2 pin in the Arduino.
transmitter with the GPS. Using the open source platform
The receiver pin is connected with the D3 pin for the
interfacing and communication between Arduino and Wi-Fi both the patient and the physician gain the knowledge of the
module. For power supply, the Vcc pin in ESP8266 is respective person medical condition. The patient can also
connected with the 3.3V pin in Arduino and ground in Wi-Fi visualize their signal value by using the security key which
is connected with ground pin in Arduino. The Arduino needs includes the username and password. The data can be
5V power supply and the Wi-Fi module needs a 3.3V of exported and saved in the platform.
power supply. Then, the code for the Arduino is incorporated E. Comparison of current and obtained result
in the board. That undergoes the compilation and uploading
process. At the time is uploaded, in the thingspeak platform In comparison of current and obtained result. In current
data will be updated in accordance with the activity of scenario the are obtaining the result in the specific
muscles in the digital form. The output is in respective to equipment or in in a specific software, it may have a
amplitude and time. disadvantage that it cannot be stored and exported and also
B. Serial Monitor the security function in transmission. This will be rectified
by out proposed methodology. Our contrast phenomenon
It act as separate terminal in communication of sending is, we can’t obtain the analog signal in output. But we can
and receiving the serial data. Thus the serial data consists of obtain by buying the platform in thingspeak, in order to
series of 1’s and 0’s .Here, the Arduino program is compiled achieve cost efficient method. Figure 12, Figure 13 is
and uploaded in Arduino UNO, the values is displayed in the given below
serial monitor before it display in the thingspeak platform.
The serial monitor will display the digital values in
correspondence to the contraction and relaxation of the
muscle. To display the serial monitor the serial port of COM
5 should be selected before the representation of the digital
envelope values in the thingspeak, it will display the values
in digital values in the serial monitor. The values will be read \
by the port from the Arduino to the PC. Figure 12 Representation of output from surface EMG
in current scenario in bar waveform

978-1-5386-1974-2/18/$31.00 ©2018 IEEE 1834

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