Biopotential Electrode and Amplifier

Electrode/Electrolyte interface
Half cell potential
Polarization of electrode
Electrode circuit model.

BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

Biopotential Electrodes
Electrolyte

Electrode

C+

e-

e-

C
C

AAC+

The electrode consists of metallic atoms C. The electrolyte is

an aqueous solution containing cations of the electrode metal
C+ and anions A-.
BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

Electrode Electrolyte Interface

C Cn+ + neAm- A + meAssuming the electrode has same material as cation in the
electrolyte, the electrode material becomes oxidized to form a
cation and one or more electrons. The electrons remain as the
charge carrier in the electrode. The anion can also be oxidized at
the electrode to form a neutral atom and release one or two
electrons to the electrode. The reverse of the above reaction is
reduction. It controls the movement of electrons in the opposite
direction.
BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

Half-cell Potential
Half-cell potential

Electrolyte

Electrode
+

+
+

When the electrode is inserted into the electrolyte, the

concentration of cations and anions at the interface
changes. As the result, there is a electric potential
difference between the electrolyte surrounding the
electrode and the electrolyte in other places. The
difference is called half-cell potential, which cannot be
measured.
BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

Polarization
Ohmic overpotential
Concentration overpotential

Total overpotential

Activation overpotential

When current passes through the

electrode-electrolyte interface, it changes
the half-cell potential. The change is called
overpotential and it has three components
BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

Nernst Equation
When two aqueous ionic solutions of different concentration are
separated by an ion-selective semi-permeable membrane, an electric
potential exists across the membrane and is given by Nernst equation.

RT
a
0
C aD
EE
ln
nF a A a B

For the general oxidation-reduction reaction:

A B C D ne
Where E : Half Cell Potential
E0 : Standard Half Cell Potential
a : activity of cations
n : Number of electrons
BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

Polarizable and Non-Polarizable

Electrodes
Perfectly Polarizable Electrodes
No actual charge crosses the electrode-electrolyte
interface when a current is applied. The current
across the interface is a displacement current and the
electrode behaves like a capacitor.

Perfectly Nonpolarizable Electrode

Current passes freely across the electrode-electrolyte
interface, requiring no energy to make the transition.
These electrodes see no overpotentials.

BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

Silver/Silver Chloride Electrode

Ag Ag e
Ag Cl AgCl

EE

0
Ag

BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

RT K s

ln

nF aCl

Instructor: Wei

Equivalent Circuit Model for Electrode

Rd

Rs

Ehc
Cd

Ehc: half cell potential

Rd and Cd: the impedance associated with the electrode-electrolyte interface
Rs: the series resistance associated with interface effects and the resistance
in the electorlyte.

BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

Electrode Skin Interface and Motion Artifact

BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

Biopotential Amplifier
Biopotential amplifier must have high input
impedance.
Biopotential amplifier must have protection
to the organism being studied.
Biopotential amplifier should operate in the
frequency range of the measured
biopotential signals
Biopotential amplifier should be easily
calibrated.
BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei

ECG Amplifier

From: http://www.bme.jhu.edu/labs/nthakor/teaching/lab3_2004.doc
BME313 Virtual Bioinstrumentation

Instructor: Wei