Designing a mirrored Howland circuit with a particle swarm optimisation algorithm

Abstract

ABSTRACTElectrical impedance spectroscopy usually requires a wide bandwidth current source with high output impedance. Non-idealities of the operational amplifier (op-amp) degrade its performance. This work presents a particle swarm algorithm for extracting the main AC characteristics of the op-amp used to design a mirrored modified Howland current source circuit which satisfies both the output current and the impedance spectra required. User specifications were accommodated. Both resistive and biological loads were used in the simulations. The results showed that the algorithm can correctly identify the open-loop gain and the input and output resistance of the op-amp which best fit the performance requirements of the circuit. It was also shown that the higher the open-loop gain corner frequency the higher the output impedance of the circuit. The algorithm could be a powerful tool for developing a desirable current source for different bioimpedance medical and clinical applications, such as cancer tissue characterisation and tissue cell measurements.