A Tunable Gain and Bandwidth Low-Noise Amplifier with 1.44 NEF for EMG and EOG Biopotential Signal
Open accessAbstract
This paper presents a low-noise inverter-based current-mode instrumentation amplifier with tunable gain and bandwidth for electromyogram (EMG) and electrooculogram (EOG) biopotential signals, targeting low input noise while maintaining low power consumption. The gain tuning method is based on pseudo-resistors, whereas the bandwidth is tunable due to a varactor system that is controlled by the same control voltage that tunes the gain. The circuit was designed and manufactured using the 110 nm UMC CMOS technology node, occupying an area of 0.624 mm2. The circuit presents a functioning mode for each biopotential signal with different characteristics, for the EMG a gain of 34.7 dB and a bandwidth of 1412 Hz was measured, with an input referred noise of 1.407 μV which matches a noise efficiency factor of 1.44. The EOG mode achieves a 39.5 dB gain and a 22.4 Hz bandwidth while presenting an input-referred noise of 0.829 μV corresponding to a noise efficiency factor of 6.37. For both modes, the supply voltage is 1.2 V and the circuit consumes 1 μA.
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Integrating complementary devices at the OTA input terminals increases their transconductance, and maximises the current efficiency, resulting in a lower NEF.
“Integrating complementary devices at the OTA input terminals increases their transconductance, and maximises the current efficiency, resulting in a lower NEF [157], [185].”
From Active Neural Interface Circuits and Systems for Selective Control of Peripheral Nerves: A Review (2024) · cites this paper as [185]
Section 2 (Related Work; page unavailable) says inverter-based input stages can increase transconductance and reduce noise at a given current. It attributes maximized current efficiency specifically to an additional driving circuit in another design, rather than to complementary input devices alone; it does not explicitly establish the claimed chain of effects leading to a lower NEF. (LLM, conf=0.83)
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Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 29 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 3
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- Authors
- Vieira, R., Näf, F., Martins, R., Horta, N., Lourenço, N., & Póvoa, R.
- Affiliations
- University of Lisbon (PT)
- Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores Investigação e Desenvolvimento (PT)
- Instituto de Telecomunicações (PT)
- Escola Superior Náutica Infante Dom Henrique (PT)
- Corresponding author
- Vieira, Rafael
- Lourenço, Nuno
- Venue
- Electronics
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2023-06-08
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 2592
- ISSN
- 2079-9292 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4380090560
- Cited by
- 8
- References
- 29
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2
- FWCI
- 0.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Electronics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia–Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (FCT/MCTES) (UIDB/50008/2020, SRH/BD/07774/2021)
- European Union (EU) funds (UIDB/50008/2020, SRH/BD/07774/2021)
- HAICAS (X-0009-LX-20) (UIDB/50008/2020, SRH/BD/07774/2021)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuit Design
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit Design
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Low-power high-performance VLSI design
- Keywords
- low noise amplifier, tunable gain, tunable bandwidth, inverter-based amplifier, EMG signals, biopotential signals, pseudo-resistor, varactor tuning, noise efficiency factor, low power consumption, CMOS analog circuits
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