Biological Amplifiers and Types of Biological Amplifiers
Contents
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Key learnings:
Bio Amplifier Definition: A bio amplifier is a device used to increase the amplitude of low-
level bioelectric signals for analysis.
High Input Impedance: Bio amplifiers need a high input impedance (2 MΩ to 10 MΩ) to
reduce signal distortion.
Isolation and Protection: They include isolation circuits to protect patients from electrical
shocks.
Types of Bio Amplifiers: Includes differential amplifiers, operational amplifiers,
instrumentation amplifiers, chopper amplifiers, and isolation amplifiers.
High CMRR: A bio amplifier should have a Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR)
greater than 80dB to minimize interference.
Why is Bio Amplifier Required?
Generally, biological/bioelectric signals have low amplitude and low frequency. Therefore, to
increase the amplitude level of biosignals amplifiers are designed. The outputs from these
amplifiers are used for further analysis and they appear as ECG, EMG, or any bioelectric
waveforms. Such amplifiers are defined as Bio Amplifiers or Biomedical Amplifiers.
Basic Requirements for Biological Amplifiers
1. The biological amplifier should have a high input impedance value. The range of value
lies between 2 MΩ and 10 MΩ depending on the applications. Higher impedance value
reduces distortion of the signal.
2. When electrodes pick up biopotentials from the human body, the input circuit should be
protected. Every bio-amplifier should consist of isolation and protection circuits, to
prevent the patients from electrical shocks.
3. Since the output of a bioelectric signal is in millivolts or microvolt range, the voltage gain
value of the amplifier should be higher than 100dB.
4. Throughout the entire bandwidth range, a constant gain should be maintained.
5. A bio-amplifier should have a small output impedance.
6. A good bio-amplifier should be free from drift and noise.
7. Common Mode Rejection Ratio (CMRR) value of amplifier should be greater than 80dB
to reduce the interference from common mode signal.
8. The gain of the bio-amplifier should be calibrated for each measurement.
Types of Bio Amplifiers
1. Differential Amplifier
2. Operational Amplifier
3. Instrumentation Amplifier
4. Chopper Amplifier
5. Isolation Amplifier
Instrumentation Amplifier
In biomedical applications, instrumentation amplifiers are used to achieve high gain and high
input impedance. These circuits usually have a 3-amplifier setup. The transducer output is fed
into the instrumentation amplifier, which has high CMRR and high input impedance to prevent
loading effects.
To each input of the differential amplifier, the non-inverting amplifier is connected. From the
figure, the amplifier on the left side acts as non-inverting amplifiers.
They are combined together to form the input stage of the instrumentation amplifier. The third
op-amp is the difference amplifier, and it is the output of the instrumentation amplifier.
The output from the difference amplifier Vout is the difference between two input signals given at
the input points. VO1 is the output from op-amp 1 and VO2 is the output from op-amp 2.
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Isolation Amplifier
Isolation amplifiers, also known as pre-amplifier isolation circuits, increase the input impedance
of patient monitoring systems and isolate the patient from the device. This prevents accidental
internal cardiac shock and provides up to 1012 Ω insulation between the patient and hospital
power lines.
Electrical signals are obtained using electrodes and then sent to the amplifier block for
amplification. After this, the signal enters the modulation block. If using an optical cable, the
modulated signal goes to an LED, converting it into light energy. With a transformer, the
modulated signal connects to the primary winding, transferring energy to the secondary winding
through mutual induction. The secondary output then goes to the demodulation block, providing
the final amplified demodulated signal.
to the power amplifier.
