Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research (대한의용생체공학회:의공학회지)

The Korean Society of Medical and Biological Engineering (대한의용생체공학회)
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Development of a Low-Noise Amplifier System for Nerve Cuff Electrodes

커프 신경전극을 위한 저잡음 증폭기 시스템 개발

  • Song, Kang-Il (Biomedical Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Chu, Jun-Uk (Biomedical Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Suh, Jun-Kyo Francis (Biomedical Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Choi, Kui-Won (Biomedical Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Yoo, Sun-K. (Department of Medical Engineering, Yonsei University) ;
  • Youn, In-Chan (Biomedical Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology)
  • 송강일 (한국과학기술연구원 의과학센터) ;
  • 추준욱 (한국과학기술연구원 의과학센터) ;
  • 서준교 (한국과학기술연구원 의과학센터) ;
  • 최귀원 (한국과학기술연구원 의과학센터) ;
  • 유선국 (연세대학교 의학공학교실) ;
  • 윤인찬 (한국과학기술연구원 의과학센터)
  • Received : 2010.12.01
  • Accepted : 2011.01.14
  • Published : 2011.02.28
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Abstract

Cuff electrodes have a benefit for chronic electroneurogram(ENG) recording while minimizing nerve damage. However, the ENG signals are usually contaminated by electromyogram(EMG) activity from the surrounding muscle, the thermal noise generated within the source resistance, and the electric noise generated primarily at the first stage of the amplifier. This paper proposes a new cuff electrode to reduce the interference of EMG signals. An additional middle electrode was placed at the center of cuff electrode. As a result, the proposed cuff electrode achieved a higher signal-to-interference ratio compared to the conventional tripolar cuff. The cuff electrode was then assembled together with closure, headstage, and hermetic case including electronic circuits. This paper also presents a lownoise amplifier system to improve signal-to-noise ratio. The circuit was designed based on the noise analysis to minimize the electronic noise. The result shows that the total noise of the amplifier was below $1{\mu}V_{rms}$ for a cuff impedance of $1\;k{\Omega}$ and the common-mode rejection ratio was 115 dB at 1 kHz. In the current study, the performance of nerve cuff electrode system was evaluated by monitoring afferent nerve signals under mechanical stimuli in a rat animal model.

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References

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