BME 314

Biomedical Instrumentation

Dr. Gökhan ERTAŞ

Dept. of Biomedical Engineering

BME 314
Instructor
Gökhan ERTAŞ, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
e-mail: gokhan.ertas@yeditepe.edu.tr

Lab Assistants
Mehdi Menteş

Text Book
 Introduction to Biomedical Equipment Tech.,
Carr and Brown, Prentice Hall.

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BME 314
Grading
Midterm 1 20%
Midterm 2 20%
Final 40%
Labwork 20%

Additional Remarks
 No make-up exams will be allowed without an official
university excuse (An official university excuse is a documented
excuse of absence due to medical issues or family death).

 Students who miss a class are completely responsible for

obtaining the material they missed.

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Ready

Steady

Go...

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MEDICAL INSTRUMENT/DEVICE
Medical Device definition by the Food and Drug Administration, USA

A device is: "an instrument, apparatus, implement, machine,

contrivance, implant, in vitro reagent, or other similar or related
article, including a component part, or accessory which is:

 Recognized in the official National Formulary, or the United

States Pharmacopoeia, or any supplement to them,
 Intended for use in the diagnosis of disease or other conditions,
or in the cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of
disease, in man or other animals, or
 Intended to affect the structure or any function of the body
of man or other animals, and which does not achieve any of it's
primary intended purposes through chemical action within or on
the body of man or other animals and which is not dependent
upon being metabolized for the achievement of any of its primary5/55
intended purposes.

MEDICAL DEVICE

Physiological Signal Acquisition

Signal

Signal Processing 6/55

Signal Analysis

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 SIGNAL ACQUISITION CHAIN @ LAB

Phy siological
Signal

A/D
Converter
 Biopotential electrode

 Temperature sensor

 Strain gauge ECG

 Pressure transducer EMG
 Photocoupler EOG
KL-720 … Blood Pressure

BIOMEDICAL MEASUREMENT
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SYSTEM KL-720

SIGNAL ACQUISITION

Phy siological
Signal


Physiological Signal

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 PHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNAL
Physiological signals are generated by the body during
the functioning of various physiological systems

Nervous System
Ocular System Electroencephalogram, EEG
EOG, Electrooculogram
Pulmonary System
Respiration Parameters, RSP
Cardiovascular System
ECG, Electrocardiogram
Cardiovascular System
Blood Pressure

Muscular System Cardiovascular System

EMG, Electromyogram Blood Flow

Nervous System
Pulmonary System Galvanic Skin
PPG, Photoplethysmogram 9/55
Resistance, GSR

PHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNAL
Signals hold information which can be extracted from
these signals to find out the state of the functioning of these
physiological systems

Wearable Monitor for early detection of

Covid-19 cases before symptoms appear
Monitors heart rate, respiratory rate and skin
temperature, body position and coughing
received a $2.8 million award

Wearable Heart Monitor for

detection of previously undiagnosed
atrial fibrillation to prevent
hospitalizations, stroke and death
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PHYSIOLOGICAL SIGNAL

Many physiological signals can be considered as periodic

and are defined using
signal amplitude and signal frequency ranges 11/55

Signal amplitude Signal frequency

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AT OUR LAB

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PERIODIC SIGNAL Mains Electricity

Mains Electricity @ Turkey is
240V/50Hz AC
Earthed SOCKET
Earthed PLUG

Neutral
Terminal
Live
Terminal

Earth Terminal 14/55

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PERIODIC SIGNAL Mains Electricity
Mains Electricity @ Turkey is
240V/50Hz AC
Signal Amplitude = +240V to -240V
Signal Frequency = 50Hz

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PERIODIC SIGNAL and Frequency

Determine the frequency of

the signal seen

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 PERIODIC SIGNAL and Components

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PERIODIC SIGNAL with noise

Noise-free signal, Noise from Mains Electricity,

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 2 WAYS TO LOOK AT A PERIODIC SIGNAL

Time domain Frequency domain

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SIGNAL ACQUSITION

Phy siological
Signal

Transducer:
Biopotential Electrode
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BIOPOTENTIAL ELECTRODEs
Needle Electrodes Surface Electrodes
Multi-use
Suction Electrode

Single-use
Adhesive Electrode

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Suction Electrode Adhesive Electrode

SNAP
CONNECTOR
SENSING
MATERIAL GEL

ADHASIVE SUBSTRATE
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 Adhesive Adhesive
Wet Gel Solid Gel
Foam-Pad Foam-Pad
Ag/AgCl Ag/AgCl
Electrode MRI Compatible
Electrode 23/55

GEL MATERIAL
Wet Gel comes in a variety of chloride
levels
Wet gel
1% chloride content ensures an electrode
Porous that is gentler on the skin while 10%
sponge chloride content allows for quicker and
Sensing
more reliable signal acqusitions
material
Shelf life ~ 18 months

Solid Gel is filled at the depth of the foam

to allow for smooth and flat application
Solid gel
Solid Gel aids in the adhesion of the
Sensing
electrode and does not require clean up
material after use
Shelf life ~ 24 months 24/55

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SUBSTRATE MATERIAL

Foam More strength and less stretch during

placement and movement reducing
motion artifacts 

Cloth Flexible and thin allowing for easy

placement and also breathable for long
term monitoring applications

Polyolefin Tape Translucent so that the skin underneath

the electrode can be easily viewed for
better positioning. Also comfortable for
sensitive skin patients
Vinyl Tape Cost Effective and flexible meets the
needs for general monitoring
applications 25/55

SNAP CONNECTOR MATERIAL

Stainless Stops corrosion from occurring,

eliminating artifact for general
Steel monitoring applications

Carbon Radiolucent. And also MR conditional

which means it can be worn during
Filled MRI scans, but not actively in use.

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SENSING MATERIAL

Sensing material can be Gold

(Au), Silver (Ag) or most
preferably Silver/Silver
Chloride (Ag/AgCl)
A charge gradient builds up between
the electrode and electrolyte that
creates a potential difference; i.e. half-
cell potential, E hc

Standard half cell potential Ehc0 Metal and Reaction Ehc0 (V)
is the potential for 1M concentration
2H+ + 2e –  H2 0.00
solution at 25o C when no current
flows across the interface. Ag+ + e –  Ag +0.80
AgCl + e –  Ag + Cl– +0.22
Half cell potential is altered when there
is current flowing in the electrode. Au+ + e –  Au 27/55
+1.69

ELECTRODE PRODUCING MACHINE

 Gel Options : Solid Gel or Wet Gel

 Snap Connector Options : Stainless Steel or Carbon Filled
 Substrate Options : Foam, Cloth, Tape or Vinyl
 Speed : 60-110 pcs/min
 Size : Cleanroom-space saving 28/55

compact design

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USE of GEL ELECTRODEs for
BIOPOTENTIAL MESURAMENTs

Usakli AB. Improvement of EEG signal acquisition: an electrical aspect for 29/55
state of the art of front end. Comput Intell Neurosci. 2010;2010:630649.

EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT of the GEL ELECTRODE

Rs The resistance associated with interface effects

and due to resistance in the gel.

Rd and Cd The impedance associated with the

electrode-gel interface and polarization effects

Ehc The half-cell potential of the electrode by the

sensing material 30/55

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EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT

Determine the impedance

of the electrode, Z

Z  Rs  (Rd || ZCd )
Rd
Z ( jw)  Rs 
Z jwRd Cd  1
w  2 f

For very low frequencies For very high frequencies

f 0 f 
Rd Rd
Z (0)  Rs   Rs  Rd Z ()  Rs   Rs
0 1  1 31/55

Example
A specific biopotential electrode is designed using
Ag/AgCl electrode and by placing it in a physiological
saline bath.

The variation of the impedance of the Ag/AgCl electrode-

electrolyte interface with the frequency is as seen.

Determine the values

of the resistors and
the capacitor in the
equivalent circuit for
the electrode.
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 Low
Frequencies, f <10Hz

30 kΩ

Z High
Frequencies, f >100kHz

500Ω

~ 100Hz
Corner frequency 33/55

Example
@ High frequencies, Zi ≈ 500 Ω

 Zi = Rs ≈ 500 Ω (here Cd is short circuit)

@ Low frequencies, Zi ≈ 30 kΩ

 Zi = Rs + Rd ≈ 30 kΩ (here Cd is open circuit)

so
Rd = 30 kΩ - Rs = 30 kΩ - 500 Ω = 29.5 kΩ

Corner frequency, fc ≈ 100 Hz:

fc = 1/(2πCdRd)  Cd = 1/(2πfcRd)

Cd = 1/(2π100×29500) = 5.3×10-8F = 53nF 34/55

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 EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT of GEL ELECTRODE
Placed on the skin

Re

Rsub Esc

Ce 35/55

ELECTRODE DESINGs

Adhesive Wet Gel Dual Adhesive Solid Gel

Electrode for EMG Triode Electrode for
Electrode for EMG / ECG
EMG

Snap Style
Electrodes
Stamped-Cup Electrode for EEG for GSR
(Gold, Silver and Ag/AgCl) 36/55

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 ELECTRODE DESINGs

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SIGNAL ACQUSITION

Phy siological
Signal

Preamplifier

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USE of PREAMPLIFIER for BIOPOTENTIAL
MESURAMENTs

PRE
AMPLIFIER

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INSTRUMENTATION AMPLIFIER as
PREAMPLIFIER

An instrumentation amplifier is a type of subtractor

amplifier that has been outfitted with input buffers which
eliminate the need for input impedance matching 40/55

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 V IN-
R3

R1 R2

RG Vo
R2

R1
R3
V IN+

 2R  R
Vo  1  1   3  (VIN+  VIN- )
 RG  R2

 2R 
when R3  R2 Vo  1  1   (VIN+  VIN- )
 RG  41/55

AD620 IC as a PREAMPLIFIER
Higher Performance than 3 op-amp
instrumentation amplifier designs

Wide power supply range

± 2.3V to ± 18V

Wide gain range

by Analog Devices Inc.
1 to 10,000
RG
Gain set with one external resistor
49.4k 
GAD620  1 
RG
49.4k 
RG 
GAD620  1
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 How to manage AD620 to operate ?

GOuput Amplifer  143

Right Leg Driv er

49.4k 
GAD620  1  7
8.25k 
EXAMPLE: Consider the ECG
acquisition circuit seen above.
Find the gain of the AD620A IC GT  7 143  1001
and the total gain of the circuit 43/55

SIGNAL ACQUSITION

Phy siological
Signal

Amplifier

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AMPLIFIER

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Inverting and Non-inverting Amplifiers

implemented using Op-Amps

V-

V+

Av
V-

V+

V- < Vo < V+ 46/55

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LM741 OP-AMP as an AMPLIFIER
7 Terminals
Input
1: Offset Null (optional connect)
Resistance
2: Inverting Input
106 Ohm
3: Non-inverting Input
4: V- (-10 to -22V) CMRR
by Texas 5: Offset Null (optional connect) 95 dB
Instruments Inc. 6: Output
Slew Rate
7: V+ (10 to 22V) 0.5 V/us
Price: 2 TL

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LF411 OP-AMP as an AMPLIFIER

7 Terminals
Input
1: Balance (optional connect)
Resistance
2: Inverting Input
1012 Ohm
3: Non-inverting Input
4: V- (-3.5 to -18V) CMRR
by Texas 5: Balance (optional connect) 100 dB
Instruments Inc. 6: Output
Slew Rate
7: V+ (3.5 to 18V) 15 V/us
Price: 11 TL

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 LM741 IC and Offset Null Connection
without Offset Null SOLUTION
Offset Null Connection
Connect a pot to terminals
1&4&5 and adjust it to null the
offset error.
with Offset Null

When the inputs are exactly

equal, the output isn't exactly
zero  Offset Error 49/55

SIGNAL ACQUSITION

Phy siological
Signal

Filter

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An electronic filter is a circuit that can be designed to
modify, reshape or reject all unwanted frequencies of an
electrical signal and accept/pass only those signals
wanted by the circuits designer.

Raw ECG Signal

Filtered ECG
Signal

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ELECTRONIC FILTERs by TECHNOLOGY

1) Passive Filters are made up of passive components
such as resistors, capacitors or inductors.
These filters have no amplifying elements and their
output level is always less than the input.

1st order
passive filter

2nd order
passive filter
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ELECTRONIC FILTERs by TECHNOLOGY
2) Active Filters are made up of resistors, capacitors
or inductors + amplifying element (such as transistor
or op-amp)

1st order
active filter

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ELECTRONIC FILTERs by FUNCTION

1) Low-Pass Filter

2) High-Pass Filter

3) Band-Pass Filter

4) Band-Reject Filter
(Band-Stop)
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