Switched CMOS current source compared to enhanced Howland circuit for bio-impedance applications

Bio-impedance Spectroscopy (BIS) is a technique that allows tissue analysis to diagnose a variety of diseases, such as medical imaging, cancer diagnosis, muscle fatigue detection, glucose measurement, and others under research. The development of CMOS integrated circuit front-ends for bioimpedance a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: da Silva Pablo Dutra, Filho Pedro Bertemes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2024-10-01
Series:Journal of Electrical Bioimpedance
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2478/joeb-2024-0017
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832593602609414144
author da Silva Pablo Dutra
Filho Pedro Bertemes
author_facet da Silva Pablo Dutra
Filho Pedro Bertemes
author_sort da Silva Pablo Dutra
collection DOAJ
description Bio-impedance Spectroscopy (BIS) is a technique that allows tissue analysis to diagnose a variety of diseases, such as medical imaging, cancer diagnosis, muscle fatigue detection, glucose measurement, and others under research. The development of CMOS integrated circuit front-ends for bioimpedance analysis is required by the increasing use of wearable devices in the healthcare field, as they offer key features for battery-powered wearable devices. These features include high miniaturization, low power consumption, and low voltage power supply. A key circuit in BIS systems is the current source, and one of the most common topology is the Enhanced Howland Current Source (EHCS). EHCS is also used when the current driver is driven by a pseudo-random signal like discrete interval binary sequences (DIBS), which, due to its broadband nature, requires high performance operational amplifiers. These facts lead to the need for a current source more compatible with DIBS signals, ultra-low power supply, standard CMOS integrated circuit, output current amplitude independent of input voltage amplitude, high output impedance, high load capability, high output voltage swing, and the possibility of tetra-polar BIS analysis, that is a pseudotetra-polar in the case of EHCS. The objective of this work is to evaluate the performance of the Switching CMOS Current Source (SCMOSCS) over EHCS using a Cole-skin model as a load using SPICE simulations (DC and AC sweeps and transient analysis). The SCMOSCS demonstrated an output impedance of more than 20 MΩ, a ± 2.5 V output voltage swing from a +3.3 V supply, a 275 μA current consumption, and a 10 kΩ load capacity. These results contrast with the + 1.5 V output voltage swing, the 3 kΩ load capacity, and the 4.9 mA current of the EHCS case.
format Article
id doaj-art-2d8a54123d7e4c35ba65c2c753c67c95
institution Kabale University
issn 1891-5469
language English
publishDate 2024-10-01
publisher Sciendo
record_format Article
series Journal of Electrical Bioimpedance
spelling doaj-art-2d8a54123d7e4c35ba65c2c753c67c952025-01-20T11:09:56ZengSciendoJournal of Electrical Bioimpedance1891-54692024-10-0115114515310.2478/joeb-2024-0017Switched CMOS current source compared to enhanced Howland circuit for bio-impedance applicationsda Silva Pablo Dutra0Filho Pedro Bertemes11Electrical Engineering Department, State University of Santa Catarina, Mexico, Brazil1Electrical Engineering Department, State University of Santa Catarina, Mexico, BrazilBio-impedance Spectroscopy (BIS) is a technique that allows tissue analysis to diagnose a variety of diseases, such as medical imaging, cancer diagnosis, muscle fatigue detection, glucose measurement, and others under research. The development of CMOS integrated circuit front-ends for bioimpedance analysis is required by the increasing use of wearable devices in the healthcare field, as they offer key features for battery-powered wearable devices. These features include high miniaturization, low power consumption, and low voltage power supply. A key circuit in BIS systems is the current source, and one of the most common topology is the Enhanced Howland Current Source (EHCS). EHCS is also used when the current driver is driven by a pseudo-random signal like discrete interval binary sequences (DIBS), which, due to its broadband nature, requires high performance operational amplifiers. These facts lead to the need for a current source more compatible with DIBS signals, ultra-low power supply, standard CMOS integrated circuit, output current amplitude independent of input voltage amplitude, high output impedance, high load capability, high output voltage swing, and the possibility of tetra-polar BIS analysis, that is a pseudotetra-polar in the case of EHCS. The objective of this work is to evaluate the performance of the Switching CMOS Current Source (SCMOSCS) over EHCS using a Cole-skin model as a load using SPICE simulations (DC and AC sweeps and transient analysis). The SCMOSCS demonstrated an output impedance of more than 20 MΩ, a ± 2.5 V output voltage swing from a +3.3 V supply, a 275 μA current consumption, and a 10 kΩ load capacity. These results contrast with the + 1.5 V output voltage swing, the 3 kΩ load capacity, and the 4.9 mA current of the EHCS case.https://doi.org/10.2478/joeb-2024-0017bio-impedance spectroscopycmos integrated circuitanalog front-endcurrent source
spellingShingle da Silva Pablo Dutra
Filho Pedro Bertemes
Switched CMOS current source compared to enhanced Howland circuit for bio-impedance applications
Journal of Electrical Bioimpedance
bio-impedance spectroscopy
cmos integrated circuit
analog front-end
current source
title Switched CMOS current source compared to enhanced Howland circuit for bio-impedance applications
title_full Switched CMOS current source compared to enhanced Howland circuit for bio-impedance applications
title_fullStr Switched CMOS current source compared to enhanced Howland circuit for bio-impedance applications
title_full_unstemmed Switched CMOS current source compared to enhanced Howland circuit for bio-impedance applications
title_short Switched CMOS current source compared to enhanced Howland circuit for bio-impedance applications
title_sort switched cmos current source compared to enhanced howland circuit for bio impedance applications
topic bio-impedance spectroscopy
cmos integrated circuit
analog front-end
current source
url https://doi.org/10.2478/joeb-2024-0017
work_keys_str_mv AT dasilvapablodutra switchedcmoscurrentsourcecomparedtoenhancedhowlandcircuitforbioimpedanceapplications
AT filhopedrobertemes switchedcmoscurrentsourcecomparedtoenhancedhowlandcircuitforbioimpedanceapplications