Highly Sensitive Readout Interface for Real-Time Differential Precision Measurements with Impedance Biosensors.

Field deployment is critical to developing numerous sensitive impedance transducers. Precise, cost-effective, and real-time readout units are being sought to interface these sensitive impedance transducers for various clinical or environmental applications. This paper presents a general readout method with a detailed design procedure for interfacing impedance transducers that generate small fractional changes in the impedance characteristics after detection. The emphasis of the design is obtaining a target response resolution considering the accuracy in real-time. An entire readout unit with amplification/filtering and real-time data acquisition and processing using a single microcontroller is proposed. Most important design parameters, such as the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), common-mode-to-differential conversion, digitization configuration/speed, and the data processing method are discussed here. The studied process can be used as a general guideline to design custom readout units to interface with various developed transducers in the laboratory and verify the performance for field deployment and commercialization. A single frequency readout unit with a target 8-bit resolution to interface differentially placed transducers (e.g., bridge configuration) is designed and implemented. A single MCU is programmed for real-time data acquisition and sine fitting. The 8-bit resolution is achieved even at low SNR levels of roughly 7 dB by setting the component values and fitting algorithm parameters with the given methods.

AC and DC Differential Bridge Structure Suitable for Electrochemical Interfacial Capacitance Biosensing Applications.

This paper presents a capacitive differential bridge structure with both AC and DC excitation and balancing capability for low cost electrode-solution interfacial capacitance biosensing applications. The proposed series RC balancing structure offers higher sensitivity, lower susceptibility to common-mode interferences, and drift control. To evaluate the bridge performance in practice, possible effects of initial bridge imbalance due to component mismatches are investigated considering the required resolution of the balancing networks, sensitivity, and linearity. This evaluation is also a guideline to designing the balancing networks, balancing algorithm and the proceeding readout interface circuitry. The proposed series RC bridge structure is implemented along with a custom single frequency real-time amplification/filtering readout board with real-time data acquisition and sine fitting. The main specifications for the implemented structure are 8-bit detection resolution if the total expected fractional capacitance change at the interface is roughly 1%. The characterization and measurement results show the effectiveness of the proposed structure in achieving the design target. The implemented structure successfully achieves distinct detection levels for tiny total capacitance change at the electrode-solution interface, utilizing Microcystin-(Leucine-Arginine) toxin dilutions as a proof of concept.