EEG Brain Data Acquisition System

Design of EEG Data Acquisition System

(March 2016)
Surya prakash, PT1285504, Electrical Engineering Department, A.P.I.I.T panipat
Abstract this report deals with the designing of an
Electroencephalography (EEG) data acquisition system. EEG is a
device used for plotting the brainwaves of the patient so that the
mental patient can be diagnosed accordingly. This is a complex
machine with big setup in the hospital. This machine works on a
non-invasive method of neuro-technology for studying brain
behavior. This refers to the spontaneous brain electrical behavior
over a period of time. It is basically used for detection of disorder
like epilepsy, brain death, coma, tumor, stroke, etc.
Index TermsHPF (high pass filter), LPF (low pass filter),
AD620 (instrumentation amplifier), LM358 (operational
amplifier), dB (decibels)

I.

INTRODUCTION

operate by generating and passing electrical signals. The

summation of all this electrical activity results in signals that can
be detected and recorded outside the brain. In EEG recording, a
powerful electronic amplifier increases several hundreds or
thousands of times the amplitude of the weak signal (less than a
few micro volts) which is generated in this place
II.

HIS document will deal with the requirement of this project

as well as the importance of such a project at this period of
time. It will cover the main technical aspect of making a
device which is cost effective and more advanced for the
purpose. It will also cover the research done before proposing
the idea of how the acquisition will be done. After that it will
enter into the technicalities of the amplifier used to make the
brain waves better and amplified to be studied. This will discuss
the fact that how the proposed schematic will work properly and
why we choose this particular schematic diagram.

The inner workings of the human brain have always been a

curiosity to scientists, one that has led to the creation of studies
and technologies that aim to answer some of the many questions
that this interest has sparked. It is amazing to think that simple
changes in the electrical potential across the many billions of
synapses between neurons within the brain can create complex
thoughts, feelings, and synchronize the thousands of muscle
movements and processes that occur within the human body.
Electroencephalograms is a device used to create a picture of the
electrical activity of the brain, it basically detect and measure
the neurons signal in brain to an analog form. The human brain
is the most complex information-processing structure known to
science. The brain contains some 100 billion neurons which
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NEED OF AN EEG

DEVICE

This is 21st century but still our major concern for humanity
is related to the issue of health. All over the world there are two
main projects on which people are focused for research i.e.
human genome project and human brain mapping project.
Today the major health concern is related to brain disorder and
we dont have any solution to that. Advanced EEG design will
help us to figure out.
III. WORKING PRINCIPLE
For obtaining basic brain patterns of individuals, subjects are
instructed to close their eyes and relax. Brain patterns form
wave shapes that are commonly sinusoidal. Usually, they are
measured from peak to peak and normally range from 0.5 to 100
V in amplitude, which is about 100 times lower than ECG
signals. By means of Fourier transform power spectrum from
the raw EEG signal is derived. In power spectrum contribution
of sine waves with different frequencies are visible. Although
the spectrum is continuous, ranging from 0 Hz up to one half of
sampling frequency, the brain state of the individual may make
certain frequencies more dominant. Brain waves have been
categorized into four basic groups
Delta (0.5 - 4 Hz)

Theta (4 8 Hz)

Alpha (8 14 Hz)

Beta (13 - 30 Hz)

Delta waves are characteristic of deep sleep and are high

amplitude waves in the frequency range 0.5-4 Hz. Theta waves
occur within the 4-8 Hz frequency band during meditation,
idling, or drowsiness. Alpha waves have frequency range 8-14

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EEG Brain Data Acquisition System

Hz and take place while relaxing or reflecting. Another way to
boost alpha waves is to close the eyes. Beta waves reside in the
13-30 Hz frequency band and are characteristic of the user being
alert or active. They become present while the user is
concentrating. Gamma waves in the 30-100 Hz range occur
during sensory processing of sound and sight. Lastly, mu waves
occur in the 8-13 Hz frequency range while motor neurons are
at rest. Mu suppression takes place when the user imagines
moving or actually moves parts of their body.
An example diagram of the EEG signal types follows:

present on lobule. These signals are caught through electrodes

and then feed to a protection circuit which is made up of
transistors so that excess current cannot flow either way to
protect circuit as well as the patient. This signal is further given
as an input of two different parts of the amplifier which are DRL
(driving right leg) circuit and instrumentation amplifier
(AD620). This DRL circuit will receive the signal through a
voltage buffer circuit and will be connected to the lobule of the
patient. This cancels out the common mode signals which
further reduces the noise of the overall signal. Why do we use
instrumentation amplifier? They have a high CMRR, high input
impedance, less noise and very low DC offset. These properties
matches our requirement but since we are using very low
amplitude signals we need such an instrumentation amplifier
which can work on that range. The AD620, with its high
accuracy of 40 ppm maximum nonlinearity, low offset voltage
of 50 V max, and offset drift of 0.6 V/C max, is ideal for use
in precision data acquisition systems, such as weigh scales and
transducer interfaces. Furthermore, the low noise, low input bias
current, and low power of the AD620 make it well suited for
medical applications, such as EEG and noninvasive blood
pressure monitors. The low input bias current of 1.0 nA max is
made possible with the use of Supereta processing in the input
stage. The AD620 works well as a preamplifier due to its low
input voltage noise of 9 nV/Hz at 1 kHz, 0.28 V p-p in the 0.1
Hz to 10 Hz band, and 0.1 pA/Hz input current noise. Also, the
AD620 is well suited for multiplexed applications with its
settling time of 15 s to 0.01%, and its cost is low enough to
enable designs with one in-amp per channel and appropriate for
our use as well as only one external resistance controls the gain
of amplifier which reduces the complexity of circuit. Now, the
low pass filter will be decided on the basis of the performance
in both, the frequency domain as well as the time domain.
Comparing amongst Bessel, Chebyshev and Butterworth on the
basis of their time and frequency response, we found that
Butterworth will be the best suited for our purpose.

Figure 1: EEG wave frequency range

IV. EEG AMPLIFIER
Brain waves are continuously generated micro-volt signals
from our brain and varies frequency wise according to the
performance of the brain. The schematic will starts with a
protection circuit followed by instrumentation amplifier, HPF,
amplifier and LPF respectively. Step-wise analysis concluded
that this pattern cannot be changed. At early stage we were
focused on the main noise of 50 Hz due to hum present in
environment. But if we will apply LPF in place of HPF the DC
offset due to charge accumulation at electrode will passed and
amplified considerably high and signal will be lost. In spite of
using the right leg for reference we will use lobule as it will keep
the whole circuit above neck and there will be no brain waves
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Butterworth (a) Time response (b) Frequency response

Chebyshev Attains Cutoff Frequency Very Sharply And Bessel
Attains it least steeply amongst these filters and time response
is best observed in Bessel and worse in Chebyshev. As we need
both qualities, we choose the middle path as Butterworth filter.
This is a proposal and can be reformed as needed.
The internal gain resistors of AD620 are trimmed to an absolute
value of 24.7k, allowing the gain to be programmed accurately

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EEG Brain Data Acquisition System

with a single external resistor. Then, the gain equation is given
by
49.4

G= R + 1
So, we can vary the gain by varying the resistor Rg. We have
put the variable resistor instead of constant value in order to
make it more versatile for different signal acquisition. Hence by
use of same amplifier we can acquire any biomedical signal just
by adjusting its gain for the particular biomedical signal.

V. Circuit diagram

Final output graph obtained from software simulation

Final output graph obtained from hardware simulation

The graph obtained from software simulation and hardware
implementation is much identical to each other.
VII. Some special cases

VI. Result

(a) When electrodes are connected to human body in

normal condition. Developer connect the electrodes to
the human brain in normal condition without any
stress in proper isolation condition, developer observe
a wave form which is much similar to the wave form
of software simulation and record the voltmeter
reading for analysis purpose.

Final voltmeter reading of an EEG device

Voltmeter reading shows the rating of voltage in normal

condition of human brain, the observed voltage is 2.25 volt
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EEG Brain Data Acquisition System

and the graph obtained is much identical to the simulation
graph obtained in implementation chapter.

(b) When electrodes are connected to a person in deep

sleep.

The voltmeter reading of a person during deep sleep is

about to 1.25 volt, this satisfy developer that voltage of
brain during sleep is much lower than the voltage of brain
during normal condition.
(c) When electrodes are connected to a person while
playing basketball. In this case developer wants to
observe the voltage of human brain while playing or
doing some physical activity.

Here developer satisfy from the voltmeter reading, the

voltmeter shows the fluctuation of the signal is about 2.6
which is much higher than the voltage obtained during
sleep and in normal condition.
VIII.
conclusion
Biomedical signals are so weak that they can be easily impacted
by the surrounding noise. So, more care is to be taken for
electrodes and lead wires, as they take the signal to the
amplifier. To design the biomedical signal acquisition device it
is not only to amplify the biomedical signal, but more work is
accurately extracted the biomedical signal from a strong noise
environments. Amplifier must weed out the 50Hz frequency out
of the signal and shield the surrounding noise. The further
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analysis by using digital filters can be done after taken the signal
to the computer. But this article is by use of the hardware design
and software analysis composing; present the acquisition of
biomedical signal interference amplification device which can
effectively remove the noise.

Referencing
1. David Prutchi, Michael Norris, Design and
Development of Medical Electronic Instrumentation,
Wiley publications.
2. Introduction to Biomedical Engineering, 2nd
edition,Elsevier Academic Press, by John D. Enderle,
Susan M.Blanchard, Joseph D. Bronzino.
3. Text Book of Medical Physiology, 11th edition,
Elsevier Saunders, by Arthur C. Guyton and John E.
Hall.
4. Wiley Encyclopedia of Biomedical Engineerig,
edited by Metin Akay.
5. Sensors, Nanoscience, Biomedical Engineering and
Instruments, The Electrical Engineering Handbook,
3rd edition, by Richard C. Dorf.
6. Biomedical Instrumentation & Measurement by
Carr & Brown, 2nd edition, Pearson publication.
7. Handbook of Biomedical Intrumentation, 3rd
edition, by Khandpur.
8. Scott Day, Important Factors in Surface EMG
Measurement,
Boretech
BiomedicalLtd,Manual.[Online]Available:http://ww
w.bortec.ca/Images/
pdf/EMG%20measurement%20and%20recording.pdf
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Technieqes, Chapter 3, NIOSH Selected Topicsin
Surface EMG Document 91-100-c Electrode
Chapter[online]Available:http://www.humanicses.co
m/SelectedTopicsE MGsNIOSH.pdf.
10. Datasheet of IC AD620 Instrumentation amplifier &
Quad Op-amp IC TL084. [
11. Prakash Biswagar, OPAMP APPLICATIONS,
E&C Dept. RV College of Engineering, Bangalore.
[online]
Available:
http://forum.vtu.ac.in/`edusat/elec&cir/ur/session_10.
doc.[online].
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