Mixed Signal Design of Biopotential Front-Ends

ENRIQUE M. SPINELLI; M. MAYOSKY

LATIN AMERICAN APPLIED RESEARCH

LAAR

Año: 2010 vol. 40 p. 99 - 103

0327-0793

High resolution Sigma-Delta Analog-to-Digital Converters (SDADC) have drastically changed traditional analog signal processing stages. However, as the boundary between analog and digital worlds becomes diffuse, a "mixed-signal processing" approach arises. For instance, analog filters, traditionally implemented as independent processing stages can be easily incorporated in the design of the Sigma-Delta converter, resulting in a more compact approach, with important advantages regarding size and power consumption. In this context, a design technique for mixed-signals front-ends intended for biomedical signals is presented here. As an example, the design of an ECG front-end is presented. It accepts DC offsets of ±300mV, presents an AC input range of ±10mV, a -3 dB bandwidth of 100Hz and a total noise less than 10μVp-p, operating at a clock frequency of 57kHz. The front-end provides "fast baseline recovery" features and its transient response fulfills the AAMI standard. A functional prototype was built and tested, validating the design procedure.