Comprehensive study of Howland circuit with non-ideal components to design high performance current pumps

Abstract Howland circuit is a popular high performance, voltage-controlled current pump, which can both sink and source precise amounts of current and provide high output impedance as well as high frequency bandwidth. In this article, analytical expressions are derived for performance characteristics of non-ideal Howland Current Pump, and it is shown that the main characteristics can be adjusted using three independent parameters: resistors’ scale, feedback ratio, and current sensing resistor’s value. The derived expressions are evaluated by computer simulations, and then are used to design a current pump for an impedance cardiography system, as an example. Performance of the circuit is evaluated based on simulations and experimental tests, and then is compared with several previous designs in the literature. The relationships provide a unified framework for the analysis of different configurations of Howland current pump and can facilitate its design process for different applications with specific performance requirements.

[1]  Eung Je Woo,et al.  Evaluation of a multi-electrode bioimpedance spectroscopy tensor probe to detect the anisotropic conductivity spectra of biological tissues , 2014 .

[2]  Wen-Lung Huang,et al.  The Simulation of Current Generator Design for Multi-Frequency Electrical Impedance Tomograph , 2006, 2006 International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[3]  Liang-Yu Shyu,et al.  Portable impedance cardiography system for real-time noninvasive cardiac output measurement , 1997, Proceedings of the 19th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. 'Magnificent Milestones and Emerging Opportunities in Medical Engineering' (Cat. No.97CH36136).

[4]  Ramon Bragós,et al.  Current Source Design for Electrical Bioimpedance Spectroscopy , 2008 .

[5]  L. Geddes,et al.  The specific resistance of biological material—A compendium of data for the biomedical engineer and physiologist , 1967, Medical and biological engineering.

[6]  R Bragós,et al.  A wide-band AC-coupled current source for electrical impedance tomography. , 1994, Physiological measurement.

[7]  Rosalind J. Sadleir,et al.  Biocompatible, High Precision, Wideband, Improved Howland Current Source With Lead-Lag Compensation , 2013, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems.

[8]  G. D. Hammond,et al.  Noise analysis of a Howland current source , 2008 .

[9]  Hank Zumbahlen.  Linear Circuit Design Handbook , 2008 .

[10]  R. Bragos,et al.  Current Source for Multifrequency Broadband Electrical Bioimpedance Spectroscopy Systems. A Novel Approach , 2006, 2006 International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.

[11]  C. L. Doren,et al.  A high voltage, constant current stimulator for electrocutaneous stimulation through small electrodes , 1999, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[12]  S. J. Kim,et al.  Biphasic electric current stimulates proliferation and induces VEGF production in osteoblasts. , 2006, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[13]  Gerard Cybulski,et al.  Ambulatory Impedance Cardiography , 2011 .

[14]  Hui Xu,et al.  Study on Wide-band Voltage Controlled Current Source for Electrical Impedance Tomography , 2012, 2012 Second International Conference on Intelligent System Design and Engineering Application.

[15]  H McCann,et al.  Low-noise current excitation sub-system for medical EIT , 2008, Physiological measurement.

[16]  Olfa Kanoun,et al.  High accurate and wideband current excitation for bioimpedance health monitoring systems , 2016 .

[17]  R. Etienne-Cummings,et al.  Practical considerations for the use of a Howland current source for neuro-stimulation , 2008, 2008 IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference.

[18]  Michael Norris,et al.  Design and development of medical electronic instrumentation : a practical perspective of the design, construction, and test of medical devices , 2004 .

[19]  Alexander S Ross,et al.  Current source design for electrical impedance tomography. , 2003, Physiological measurement.

[20]  D.-W. Gu,et al.  A Comprehensive Study on Current Source Circuits , 2007 .

[21]  Q. S. Zhu,et al.  High output impedance voltage controlled current source for bio-impedance instrumentation , 1993, Proceedings of the 15th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Societ.

[22]  Maysam Ghovanloo,et al.  A compact large Voltage-compliance high output-impedance programmable current source for implantable microstimulators , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering.

[23]  Christofer Toumazou,et al.  Extending voltage-mode op amps to current-mode performance , 1990 .

[24]  James J. Ackmann,et al.  Complex bioelectric impedance measurement system for the frequency range from 5 Hz to 1 MHz , 1993, Annals of Biomedical Engineering.

[25]  W. Yang,et al.  Comparison of three current sources for single-electrode capacitance measurement. , 2010, The Review of scientific instruments.

[26]  P Bertemes-Filho,et al.  A comparison of modified Howland circuits as current generators with current mirror type circuits. , 2000, Physiological measurement.

[27]  Ling Lin,et al.  The differential Howland current source with high signal to noise ratio for bioimpedance measurement system. , 2014, Review of Scientific Instruments.

[28]  Eung Je Woo,et al.  Performance evaluation of wideband bio-impedance spectroscopy using constant voltage source and constant current source , 2012 .

[29]  A Felipe,et al.  The effect of the random distribution of electronic components in the output characteristics of the Howland current source , 2013 .

[30]  Charles S Cox,et al.  Bioimpedance analysis: a guide to simple design and implementation. , 2009, The Journal of surgical research.

[32]  Richard H. Bayford,et al.  High-Power CMOS Current Driver With Accurate Transconductance for Electrical Impedance Tomography , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems.

[33]  Thomas Stieglitz,et al.  A voltage-controlled current source with regulated electrode bias-voltage for safe neural stimulation , 2008, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[34]  J. G. Webster,et al.  Errors in four-electrode impedance plethysmography , 1983, Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing.

[35]  Fernando Seoane,et al.  Simple voltage-controlled current source for wideband electrical bioimpedance spectroscopy: circuit dependences and limitations , 2011 .

[36]  Dechun Zhao,et al.  High output-impedance current source for electrical impedance tomography , 2011, 2011 4th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI).

[37]  Andreas Demosthenous,et al.  Comparison of a new integrated current source with the modified Howland circuit for EIT applications , 2009, Physiological measurement.

[38]  Pornchai Phukpattaranont,et al.  Development of a bioimpedance-based human machine interface for wheelchair control , 2009, 2009 6th International Conference on Electrical Engineering/Electronics, Computer, Telecommunications and Information Technology.

[39]  Yan Fu,et al.  Analysis of constant-current characteristics for current sources , 2012, CCDC 2012.