A 0.66uV-IIRN super-TOhm-ZIN 17.5uW/Ch Active Electrode with In-Channel Boosted CMRR for Distributed EEG Monitoring

We present the design, development, and experimental characterization of an active electrode (AE) IC for wearable ambulatory EEG recording. The proposed architecture features in-AE double common-mode (CM) rejection, making the recording’s CMRR independent of typically-significant AE-to-AE gain variations. Thanks to being DC coupled and needless of chopper stabilization for flicker noise suppression, the architecture yields a super-TOhm input impedance. Such a large input impedance makes the AE’s CMRR practically immune to electrode-skin interface impedance variations across different recording channels, a critical feature for dry-electrode ambulatory systems. Signal quantization and serialization are also performed in-AE, which enables a distributed system in which all AEs use a single data bus for data/command communication to the backend module, thus significantly improving the system’s scalability. Additionally, the presented AE hosts auxiliary modules for (i) detection of an unstable electrode-skin connection through continuous interface impedance monitoring, (ii) dynamic measurement and adjustment of input DC level, and (iii) a CM feedback loop for further CMRR enhancement.

The paper also presents the development of printed (extrusion) tattoo electrodes and their experimental characterization results with the proposed AE architecture. Besides bio-compatibility, lowcost, pattern flexibility, and quick fabrication process, the printed electrodes offer a very stable electrode-skin connection, conform to scalp shape, and exhibit consistent performance under various bending curvatures. Analog circuit blocks of the presented AE architecture are designed and fabricated using a standard 180nm CMOS technology, and the 1 x 1.3mm2 IC is integrated with off-chip low-power digital modules on a PCB to form the AE. Our measurement results show a CMRR of 82.2dB (at 60Hz), amplification voltage gain of 52.8dB, a bandwidth of 0.2-400Hz, +-500mv input DC offset tolerance, An input impedance > 1TOhm, and 0.66uV integrated input referred noise (0.5-100Hz), while consuming 17.5uW per channel. All auxiliary modules are tested experimentally, and the entire system is validated in vivo , for both ECG and EEG recording.