BioInstrumentation Course Topics

Description for the Courses of Study:

This course covers the theory and practical aspects of recording electronic data from biological systems. Topics may include electrode design, amplifier design, sensors, statistical and signal proecssing algorithms, noise reduction, and safety considerations.

Amplifers

• Intracellular recording -- the cell, electrode and amp as a circuit impedance, freq response, errors, noise in a resistor
• differential amplifier -- interference reduction
• isolation amplifier -- protection and noise reduction -- how is isolation achieved (caps, transformers, opto)
• Op-amp building block for: amp , diff-amp, filter
• real op-amp limitations -- input Z, clipping, gain, noise

Waveform generation/use

• tissue impedance
• electrode impedance and polarization
• pacemakers and defibrillators
• voltage clamp: Feedback and voltage clamp control theory -- speed, accuracy error sources
• isolation for noise reduction and safety

Noise, grounding, shielding

• noise sources: 60 Hz, thermal, radio
• Faraday cage current paths
• ground loops

Signal analysis

• analog filtering: Active filters -- amp, phase, pulse considerations butterworth, bessel, chebyshev
• digital filtering, FFT, spectrogram, reassigned spectrogram
• complexity/entropy measures
• adaptive filters for 60 Hz noise: LMS algorithm
• Spike train analysis (Rossum, Victor, others)
• Statistical detection

Sensors:

• temperature
• pressure/sound
• acceleration/postion
• concentration

Possible lab exercises:

• Finger Plethysmograph with DSP for pulse rate determination
• EKG using isolation amplifier or wireless
• GSR and skin impedance measurement
• Eye-motion controlled mouse
• Breathing monitor by strain gage or noncontact
• Electronic stethoscope
• IR tomography -- Functional Near-Infrared brain imaging