Electromyography Data Transmission via Galvanic Coupling Intra-body Communication Link (original) (raw)

PHY Design and Implementation of a Galvanic Coupling Testbed for Intra-Body Communication Links

IEEE Access

Intra-body communication (IBC) is a novel key research area that will foster personalized medicine by allowing in situ and real time monitoring in daily life. In this work, the energy efficient galvanic coupling (GC) technology is used to send data through intra-body links. A novel sound card-based GC testbed is designed and implemented, whose main features are: (i) low equipment requirements since it only employs two ordinary PCs with sound card support and Matlab software, (ii) high flexibility since all the parameters setting may be easily modified through the PC control panel and Matlab programs, (iii) real time physiological data transmissions, and (iv) almost error free communication by developing specific physical (PHY) layer techniques, which are implemented and tested with a real chicken tissue in the experimental evaluation. A signal to noise ratio (SNR) calculation is also proposed with the twofold purpose to be used for frequency offset compensation and as metric to evaluate the proposed architecture. The developed GC testbed may be easily replicated by the interested research community to carry out simulation-based experiments, thus fostering new research in this field. Moreover, the Matlab source code of the proposed GC transceiver is freely available online on Code Ocean.

Investigation of Galvanic-Coupled Intrabody Communication Using the Human Body Circuit Model

IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 2014

Intrabody Communication (IBC) is a technique that uses the human body as a transmission medium for electrical signals to connect wearable electronic sensors and devices. Understanding the human body as the transmission medium in IBC paves way for practical implementation of IBC in body sensor networks. In this study, we propose a model for galvanic couplingtype IBC based on a simplified equivalent circuit representation of the human upper arm. We propose a new way to calculate the electrode-skin contact impedance. Based on the model and human experimental results, we discuss important characteristics of galvanic coupling-type IBC, namely, the effect of tissues, anthropometry of subjects, and electrode configuration on signal propagation. We found that the dielectric properties of the muscle primarily characterize the received signal when receiver electrodes are located close to transmitter electrodes. When receiver and transmitter electrodes are far apart, the skin dielectric property affects the received signal.

Galvanic Coupling Testbed for Sound Card-Based Intra-Body Communication Links

International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology (IJRASET), 2022

By enabling in-place and real-time monitoring in daily life, intra-body communication (IBC) is a cutting-edge vital research topic that will promote customized treatment. In this study, data transmission over intra-body networks is accomplished using the energy-efficient galvanic coupling (GC) technique. Two standard PCs with sound card support and Matlab software are used to create a novel sound card-based GC testbed with the following key features: (i) low equipment requirements; (ii) high flexibility; (iii) real-time physiological data transmissions; and (iv) nearly error-free communication thanks to the development of specific physical (PHY) layer technology. Additionally, a signal to noise ratio (SNR) computation is suggested, serving as both a frequency offset compensation method and a statistic to assess the proposed design. The created GC testbed might be quickly copied by the interested research community to do simulation, encouraging more study in this area.

Data Transmission by Galvanic Coupling through Human Body

International Journal of Advance Research and Innovative Ideas in Education, 2019

The paper presents a new concept of communication method called as Intra-body communication for the purpose of security. In this concept, our human body will be used as a medium of transmission of data. The use of this technology eliminates the complexity of existing technologies that involves cables, wire connection for transmitting data. The proposed model provides a secure and efficient communication system that consists of wearable devices for authentication and also useful for transmitting the data to the master device in real time. Galvanic coupling is a method for injecting an electrical communication signal into the body. Galvanic coupling provides a more power efficient and more secure means of communication. These advantages make galvanic coupling useful for many applications, especially in the medical field. This report discusses these applications, how galvanic coupling works, its advantages over other communication techniques, and electrical properties of the body that ...

Signal Transmission by Galvanic Coupling Through the Human Body

IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, 2000

Galvanic coupling is a promising approach for wireless intrabody data transmission between sensors. Using the human body as a transmission medium for electrical signals becomes a novel data communication technique in biomedical monitoring systems. In this paper, special attention is given to the coupling of the current into the human body. Safety requirements have to be fulfilled, and optimal signal coupling is of essence. Therefore, different electrodes are compared. A test system offers up to 1 mA contact current modulated in the frequency range of 10 kHz to 1 MHz. The injected current is up to 20 times below the maximum allowed contact current. Such a low-current approach enables data communication that is more energy saving than other wireless technologies.

A multichannel wireless EMG measurement system based on intrabody communication

XIX IMEKO World Congress, Fundamental and …

In this paper we present the novel implementation of the intrabody communication (IBC) system that was specially designed for electromyography (EMG) measurements in kinesiology, sports medicine and rehabilitation. We propose a novel approach to the wireless EMG monitoring system design, which prolongs the battery life by minimizing the power consumption requirements for data transmission. This goal was achieved by a capacitive IBC approach and by developing special-purpose ultra-low power hardware modules, which perform tasks of digital signal modulation and demodulation at a very low-level. We investigate the optimal electrodes placement for IBC and present the results of in vivo measurements.

Surface Multi-Purposes Low Power Wireless Electromyography (EMG) system Design

International Journal of Computer …, 2012

The progress in the field of electronics and technology as well as the processing of signals coupled with advance in the use of computer technology has given the opportunity to record and analyze the bio-electric signals from the human body in real time that requires dealing with many challenges according to the nature of the signal and its frequency. This could be up to 1 kHz, in addition to the need to transfer data from more than one channel at the same time. Moreover, another challenge is a high sensitivity and low noise measurements of the acquired bio-electric signals which may be tens of micro volts in amplitude. For these reasons, a low power wireless Electromyography (EMG) data transfer system is designed in order to meet these challenging demands. In this work, we are able to develop an EMG analogue signal processing hardware, along with computer based supporting software. In the development of the EMG analogue signal processing hardware, many important issues have been addressed. Some of these issues include noise and artifact problems, as well as the bias DC current. The computer based software enables the user to analyze the collected EMG data and plot them on graphs for visual decision making. The work accomplished in this study enables users to use the surface EMG device for recording EMG signals for various purposes in movement analysis in medical diagnosis, rehabilitation sports medicine and ergonomics. Results revealed that the proposed system transmit and receive the signal without any losing in the information of signals.

Multi-path 2-Port Channel Characterization for Galvanic Coupled Intra-body Communication

Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Body Area Networks, 2014

Sensors implanted inside a body compose so called intra body networks (IBNs), which promise high degree of mobil- ity, remote diagnostic accuracy, and the potential of directly activating the action of drug delivery actuators. To enable communication among these implanted sensors, we use the concept of galvanic coupling, in which extremely low energy electrical signals are coupled into the human body tissues by leveraging the conductive properties of the tissues. Sev- eral challenges emerge in this new communication paradigm, such as how to appropriately model the signal propagation through various tissue paths such as from muscle to skin across di erent tissue boundaries and quantify the achievable data rates. The main contributions in this paper are: (i) we build a 2-port tissue equivalent circuit model to characterize the body channel and to identify the range of suitable operating frequencies and (ii) we theoretically estimate the channel capacity for various sensor locations that incorporates factors like the tissue propagation path, operating frequency and noise level.

IJERT-Surface Electromyography In Healthcare Solution

International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology (IJERT), 2013

https://www.ijert.org/surface-electromyography-in-healthcare-solution https://www.ijert.org/research/surface-electromyography-in-healthcare-solution-IJERTV2IS90452.pdf With miniaturization and technical advancements in electronics and communications field, we are now in a position to safely monitor, diagnose and treat various intricate ailments in patients with relative ease. This has made complex surgeries simple, easy and efficient. Wireless communications have enabled development of monitoring devices that can be made available for general use by individuals/patients and caregivers. New methods for short-range wireless communications not encumbered by radio spectrum restrictions (e.g., ultra-wideband) will enable applications of wireless monitoring without interference in ambulatory subjects, in home care, and in hospitals. Wireless biomonitoring, first used in human beings for featal heart-rate monitoring has now become a technology for remote sensing of patients' activity, blood pulse pressure, oxygen saturation, internal pressures, orthopedic device loading, and gastrointestinal endoscopy. Biotelemetry provides a wireless link between the subject and the remote site where the recording, signal processing, and displaying functions are performed. Rather than using a traditional radio transceiver, which can only broadcast over a limited range, now-a-days the readily available cell phones are used to transmit biological data by creating a link between the subject and a computer receiving the signal via a landline phone. Wireless telemetry of bioelectric signals, specifically neural recordings, is desirable in many research and clinical applications. These include, but are not limited to telemetry and recording of neural activity in laboratory animals, telemetry of EEG, telemetry of short-term implanted electrode arrays for epilepsy medical diagnosis, functional electrical stimulation (FES) systems, and implantable neuroprosthetic devices for sensory and command control. This study will focus on Wireless telemetry in general and also details of Wireless biotelemetry.

A Parametric Computational Analysis into Galvanic Coupling Intrabody Communication

IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 2017

Intrabody Communication (IBC) uses the human body tissues as transmission media for electrical signals to interconnect personal health devices in wireless body area networks. The main goal of this work is to conduct a computational analysis covering some bioelectric issues that still have not been fully explained, such as the modeling of skin-electrode impedance, the differences associated with the use of constant voltage or current excitation modes, or the influence on attenuation of the subject's anthropometrical and bioelectric properties. With this aim, a computational finite element model has been developed, allowing the IBC channel attenuation as well as the electric field and current density through arm tissues to be computed as a function of these parameters. As a conclusion, this parametric analysis has in turn permitted us to disclose some knowledge about the causes and effects of the above-mentioned issues, thus explaining and complementing previous results reported in the literature.