A 108 dB DR Δ∑-∑M Front-End With 720 mVpp Input Range and >±300 mV Offset Removal for Multi-Parameter Biopotential Recording.

ABSTRACT

The recording of biopotential signals using techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and electrocardiography (ECG) poses important challenges to the design of the front-end readout circuits in terms of noise, electrode DC offset cancellation and motion artifact tolerance. In this paper, we present a 2nd-order hybrid-CTDT Δ∑-∑ modulator front-end architecture that tackles these challenges by taking advantage of the over-sampling and noise-shaping characteristics of a traditional Δ∑ modulator, while employing an extra ∑-stage in the feedback loop to remove electrode DC offsets and accommodate motion artifacts. To meet the stringent noise requirements of this application, a capacitively-coupled chopper-stabilized amplifier located in the forward path of the modulator loop serves simultaneously as an input stage and an active adder. A prototype of this direct-to-digital front-end chip is fabricated in a standard 0.18-µm CMOS process and achieves a peak SNR of 105.6 dB and a dynamic range of 108.3 dB, for a maximum input range of 720 mVpp. The measured input-referred noise is 0.98 µVrms over a bandwidth of 0.5-100 Hz, and the measured CMRR is >100 dB. ECG and EEG measurements in human subjects demonstrate the capability of this architecture to acquire biopotential signals in the presence of large motion artifacts.