Design of CMOS Circuits for Electrophysiology

SUMMARY Electrophysiology, which is the study of the electrical properties of biological tissues and cells, has become indispensable in modern clinical research, diagnostics, disease monitoring and therapeutics. In this paper we present a brief history of this discipline and how integrated circuit design shaped electrophysiology in the last few decades. We will discuss how biopotential amplifier design has evolved from the classical three-opamp architecture to more advanced high-performance circuits enabling long-term wearable monitoring of the autonomous and central nervous system. We will also discuss how these integrated circuits evolved to measure in-vivo neural circuits. This paper targets readers who are new to the domain of biopotential recording and want to get a brief historical overview and get up to speed on the main circuit design concepts for both wearable and in-vivo biopotential recording.