Electrocardiography is a commonly used, noninvasive procedure for recording electrical changes in the heart. The record, which is called an electrocardiogram, shows the series of waves that relate to the electrical impulses which occur during each beat of the heart. The waves in a normal record are named P, Q, R, S, and T and follows in alphabetical order. The primary purpose of electrocardiography is monitoring of cardiac function. However, in the field it will also be used to diagnose cardiovascular disease.
The subject of our research is biopotential amplifier with two inputs, which is part of the laboratory exercises that students assemble on the breadboard. During the execution of the exercises they have encountered a problem that did not have a clarified cause. The aim of my thesis was to analyze the biopotential amplifier and on the basis of the results to give recommendations for improvement of the circuit. Analyses were done by measuring the input and output voltages of biopotential amplifier, the results were shown on the Bode plot and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Electrocardiogram signal was compared with commercial biopotential amplifier, Biopac.
The results show that the impact of the breadboard is too high to be able to reasonably assess the effects of other parameters. Therefore for I suggest that it would be sensible to carry out measurements taken on a printed circuit board, because we could significantly better assess the effects of parameters on the stability of biopotential amplifier and the quality of measured electrocardiogram signal.
|