2011 4th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Informatics (BMEI)

High output-impedance current source for electrical impedance tomography

Dechun Zhao
College of Bio-information, Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications
2nd Chongwen Rd., Nan an District, Chongqing, China
Phone: +86-23-62471403, Email: zhaodc@cqupt.edu.cn
Abstract This paper emphasized on analyzing the frequency-domain
and the time-domain characteristic of the enhanced Howland circuit
for electrical impedance tomography, and studied the influencing
factor in depth. Firstly, the output current, impedance and their
influencing factors were discussed in detail by numerical simulation.
Secondly, it simulated the frequency characteristic of current source,
and finally, designed the experiment to measure the output current
and impedance. Simulation and experiment indicated that it could
improve the performance by selecting the suitable amplifier,
peripheral components to meet requirements of electrical impedance
tomography.
Keywords Electrical impedance tomography (EIT); current source;
output impedance.

I. INTRODUCTION
EIT is a challenging problem. This technology has some
advantages, including: low cost, no hazard to the patient,
simplicity of application, the high speed of image collection,
and so on [1]. Although the development of EIT has been
substantial over the recent years, some challenges still need to
be overcome to make it a clinically applicable imaging [2]. But,
at present, EIT still is a technical difficulty in terms of
developing hardware for data acquisition and the algorithms to
reconstruct the images [3]. There are many methods to
improving imaging quality, of which the most important is
further hardware improvements to acquire a high-accuracy
measured datum [4]. Therefore, recent researches relating to
EIT hardware design have focused on developing the efficient
current generator. The accuracy of the current sources for EIT
can greatly impact the quality of the reconstructed images.
In order to acquire the current source, the author has
designed a FPGA-based sweep-frequencyvoltage source for
EIT [5]. Then the convert from voltage to current must be
design. The best method to date is the voltage controlled
current source. K. G. Boone reported that there were four
current sources in EIT [6], including single op-amp circuits,
multiple op-amp circuits, supply-sensing current source and
Howland circuit. Much of the problem is the restricted
frequency response. As to the current source, the output
impedance and current might be primarily considered. D. X.
Chen et al. [7] discussed three different current sources,
including the Howland current source, the enhanced Howland
current source, and a dual op-amp current source. Simulation
and experimental results showed that the enhanced Howland
current source had the maximum output impedance. P.
Bertemes et al. [8] compared the performance of enhanced
Howland circuits with current mirror type circuits, and pointed
out that there was little to choose between them in terms of a

978-1-4244-9352-4/11/$26.00 2011 IEEE

practical implementation. In order to improve the output

impedance, H. Hongwei et al. [9] designed a new integrated
current source with CMOS technology. Because of simple
structure and excellent performance, the enhanced Howland
circuit was widely used. Therefore, this paper researched the
frequency-domain and the time-domain characteristic of the
enhanced Howland circuit in detail, and studied the
relationship of the output impedance and amplifier, peripheral
components in depth.
The high-performance current source can ameliorate the
image quality to a certain extent. In order to improve the
performance of Howland circuit, this paper emphasized on
analyzing the frequency-domain and the time-domain
characteristic of Howland circuit; studied the relationship of
the output impedance and amplifier, peripheral components in
depth.
This paper will be structured as follows: In Section II, the
output current and impedance was discussed based on the
numerical method. In Section III, the frequency characteristic
of current source was simulated. In Section IV, experiment
was designed for measuring the output current and impedance
of three different amplifiers during the frequency range 1kHz
to 1.5MHz, the reload range 500 Ohm to 2000 Ohm. These
results indicated that it can improve the performance with
selecting the suitable amplifier, peripheral components.
II. NUMERICAL CALCULATIONS
In order to maximize output impedance, the enhanced
Howland circuit shown in Fig.1 must be firstly analyzed. The
circuit can be defined as a combination of positive and
negative feedback around a high gain operational or
instrumentation amplifier.
There are offset voltage and bias current in the amplifier.
And the offset voltage and bias current are dividedly
represented by Voff, ib+ and ib-. So the current of the load
resistance RL and the output impedance of current sources can
be shown as Equ.1.
(1)
[ R ( R + R4 a ) + R4 a R2 )]R3ib + R1 R2 ( R4 a + R3 )ib

R2vs + 1 4b
+ ( R1 + R2 )voff

R3 + R4 a

iL =
RL [ R2 R3 R1 ( R4b + R4 a )]

R1R4b

R3 + R4 a

R1R4b ( R4 a + R3 )vL
Ro =
( R1 R4 a + R1R4b R2 R3 )vL + ( R2 + R1 )( R4 a + R3 )v off +( R1R4 a + R1R4b + R2 R4 a ) R3ib + + R1 R2 ( R4 a + R3 )ib

1106

(c) R = 100k
Fig. 2. The relationship of the output current and the R

Fig 1. The structure diagram of the enhanced-Howland

In order to offer the output current unconcerned load,
these resistors in Equ.1 must satisfy Equ.2.
(2)
R2 R3R1 ( R4b + R4a )
If the offset voltage and bias current are negligible in the
ideal amplifier model, the current value in Equ.1 equals
to R2 vs R1 R4b , and the output impedance is infinity. This
circuit has an immediate advantage that the current value can
be adjust only through changing the ratio of R4 a and R4b . This
point is very important in the multi-frequency system.
The offset voltage and bias current in a real circuit must be
taken into account when researching the output current and
impedance. In order to be easy implemented, we require these
resistors meet Equ.3.
R2 = R3 = R1 = R4b + R4 a = R
(3)
And R4b = R(0 < < 1) , therefore, Equ.1 can be changed
into Equ.4.
(4)

v s + Rib+ Rib + 2v off

i L =
R

Rv L
Ro =
2v off + R(ib + + ib )

From Equ.4, the output current and impedance are relation

to R. Fig.2 shows the relationship between the output wave
and R in the case of different load from 500 Ohm to 2000
Ohm.

(a)

R = 1M

(b)

R = 500k

In Equ.1 and 4, as the resistor R4b is often set as the

constant value, it means that the value of R decreases during
the value of increasing. The resistor of R4b is generally
hundreds of Ohm. Thus, in order to increase the output
impedance and keep the output current constant, suitable
parameter of these resistors must be selected in Equ.4.
Generally, the value of the offset voltage is about thousands of
times more than the value of the bias current. So, the value
range of R is often between kilos of Ohm and hundred kilos of
Ohm. When the value of R is over a million Ohm, output
impedance falls rapidly. Consequently, the output current is
easily impacted by the load. It can be seen from Fig.2, when
the value of R is set as 100 kilos Ohm, the output wave of
current source can hold the constant value in the different load.
But, when the value of R is set as 1 million Ohm, the
magnitude of current is rapidly decreased as the load gradually
increases.
III.

FREQUENCY-DOMAIN ANALYSIS

Gain-bandwidth (GBW) and slew-rate (SR) are both

general and useful indexes to represent the frequency response
and performance of the amplifier. In high frequency
application, the amplifier would perform better with higher
GBW and faster SR. The open-loop gain is constant under
direct-current and low-frequency. However, as frequency
increases, it falls quickly. And, the offset voltage and current
of the amplifier are generally specified at zero frequency. As
frequency increases, these parameters can be quickly changed.
The relationship between the output current and frequency in
the case of different load from 500 Ohm to 2000 Ohm is
shown in Fig.3.

(a) THS4021

1107

(b) THS4631

(a) THS4021

(c) THS3061

Fig. 3. The performance of frequency-domain

As the frequency and the load rises, the output current
quickly decreases during choosing the THS3061 as the
amplifier. The performance of frequency-domain during
selected THS4021 and THS4631 as the amplifier is obviously
better than the performance of the last. The frequency-domain
characteristic of THS4021 is most perfect. The output current
of the circuit can keep constant in the case of frequency under
1MHz and the load from 500 Ohm to 2000 Ohm. And the
current sources using THS4021 as the amplifier has a widest
bandwidth in the three amplifiers.

IV.

(b) THS4631

EXPERIMENT

According to the above analysis, the test circuit was

designed. The amplifier of THS4021, THS4631 and THS3061
were dividedly used in the enhanced Howland circuit.
THS4021 is a high-speed voltage feedback amplifier.
THS4631 is a high-speed, high-input impedance FET-input
amplifier. THS3061 is a high slew-rate current feedback
amplifier.
And, the voltage of 2000 Ohm and 1000 Ohm load was
measured. The result of output current with frequency was
shown in Fig.4.

(c) THS3061

Fig.4. The experimental result of the output current

The output current has been measured individually using
the amplifier of THS4021, THS4631 and THS3061 during the
different load and frequency. When the load and frequency are
rising, the output current decreases, and the output voltage
quickly decreases during choosing THS4631 and THS3061 as
the amplifier. Specially, at the frequency over 100 kHz, the
output wave is seriously distorted. The frequency-domain
characteristic of THS4021 is the most perfect in the three
amplifiers. In the frequency range of a few kHz to about 1
MHz, the output current of the enhanced Howland circuit

1108

changes from 0.95mA to 0.89mA. When the frequency is

below 300 kHz, the current error remains under 0.5%. Without
accounting for measurement error, the output current keeps
constant in the same load and different frequency.
Furthermore, the frequency-domain characteristic of the
output current keeps constant in the case of the different load.
So, the test results are consistent with the result of the above
frequency-domain analysis.

REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]

Fig.5. the output impedance

As to the output impedance shown in Fig.5, the output
impedance of the simulation was much larger than the actual
output impedance. Especially, as the working frequency
increases, the phenomenon has become more obvious. And the
actual output impedance decreased along with the rise of
frequency. At the frequency less than 1 MHz, the output
impedance using THS4021 can be over 175 kilos Ohm. At the
frequency of 1.5 MHz, the output impedance is only 20 kilos
Ohm. In comparison, the output impedance using THS3061 is
so small that the output wave is seriously distorted when the
working frequency is over the 100 kHz.

V.

W. Yan, S. Hong, and R. Chaoshi, Optimum design of electrode

structure and parameters in electrical impedance tomography, Physiol.
Meas., vol. 27, pp. 291-306, Mar 2006.
R. H. Bayford, Bioimpedance tomography (Electrical impedance
tomography), Annu. Rev. Biomed. Eng., vol. 8, pp. 63-91, Aug 2006.
S. C. Murphy, R. K. Y. Chin, and T. A. York, Design of an
impeller-mounted electrode array for EIT imaging, Meas. Sci. Technol.,
vol. 19, pp. 1-12, Sep 2008.
M. Goharian, M. Soleimani, A. Jegatheesan, K. Chin, and G. R. Moran,
A DSP based multi-frequency 3D electrical impedance tomography
system, Ann. Biomed. Eng., vol. 36, pp. 1594-1603, Sep 2008.
Dechun Zhao, Chaoshi Ren, Hong Sha, et al., A FPGA-based
sweep-frequency voltage source for EIT system, ICEIE 2010, Kyoto,
Japen, pp. 2264- 2267, Aug 2010.
K. G. Boone and D. S. Holder, Current approaches to analogue
instrumentation design in electrical impedance tomography, Physiol.
Meas., vol. 17, pp. 229-247, Apr 1996.
D. X. Chen, X. Deng, and W. Q. Yang, Comparison of three current
sources for single-electrode capacitance measurement, Rev. Sci.
Instrum., vol. 81, pp. 1-3, Mar 2010.
P. Bertemes, B. H. Brown, and A. J. Wilson, A comparison of modified
Howland circuits as current generators with current mirror type circuits,
Physiol. Meas., vol. 21, pp.1-6, Jan 2000.
Hongwei Hong, Mohamad Rahal, Andreas Demosthenous and R. H.
Bayford, Comparison of a new integrated current source with the
modified Howland circuit for EIT applications, Physiol. Meas., vol. 30,
pp. 999-1007, Oct 2009.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Zhao Dechun obtained doctor degree from
Bioengineering College of Chongqing University in 2008. At
present he is an associate professor in College of
Bio-information, Chongqing University of Posts and
Telecommunication. His research fields contain the micro
diagnosis and treatment system and the electromagnetic
safety.

CONCLUSION

In a multi-frequency EIT system, this relative precision of

the current sources is much more important than the accuracy
of the current sources. Through analysis and experiments, it
can improve the performance to select the suitable amplifier,
peripheral components. The present study provides the theory
basis and feasible measure for improving the performance of
the current source in the multi-frequency EIT system. In
addition, based on the above research, the calibration circuit
for improving the image quality will be added to further
improve the performance.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research was supported by Chongqing Education
Committee (Grant No.KJ090517) and the Natural Science
Foundation Project of Chongqing CSTC 2009BB5284.

1109