MEASUREMENT TEST ECG simulator an analogue oe waveform generator Design by J. Hotzhauer Electrocardiograms (ECGs) are used very often for medical examinations, research and the development of biomedical equipment. An ECG simulator thus has a large variety of potential applications. i ECG, which ie called «surface ECO Warning! the eeatd potent around ‘The ECG suitor described in this artic shoul be used ony for tsi an rparpur- ‘1m. Th eart rte ca le between Poses. It must never be connected to any equipment that is at the samme time connected to. 40 Ha (rest og and 150 Hz (with: © A palent Nether the author nor Elektor Becronies assumes any respon ferry st009 exertion) * or damage tha ry rsuk from the use ofthe ECG generator edicalspeciahins use the eters P through U to refer to the various ‘curves and spikos of the ECG, as shown in Figure 1. Modern ECG ‘An artificial signal that corresponds to an The source of the voltage for the recorders and mentors verily and ‘actual ECG signal is needed for the develop- heart muscle, the sinus node, emits evaluate the input signal and are ‘ment and servicing of BCG equipment. This a pulse that branches into womain able to fier eu arefacts and foreign ‘makes itunnecessary to mako measurements parts (temporal and spatial). The signals, such as pacemaker signals, fon people, and in particular with research pulse, and the progression of the This means that a simple square. ‘and repair activities iteliminates a potential excitation, can be measured on the wave generator is ot satisfactory as isk to the test subject. The simulator surface of the body. The shapes of an EOG simulator, since the BOG Gescribed here produces a suitable signal. the resulting waveforms and their equipment would simpy gore such Since this signal is crystal controlled, st ean progression overtime provide doc- a signal The signal produced by the. also be used forthe calibration of pulse rate tors with important information simulator described hore has been displays, regarding diseases of the heart and successfully tested on several differ. cuculatory system. ‘ent ECG recorders and monitors. From the heart ‘The ECG can be either continu: eusly displayed on a monitor (for AA discrete circuit In order to make an electrocardiogram, elee- intensive supervision) or traced by a trodes are attached to speciic locations on pen on paper for documentation In A microcontroller system is normally he dy, such asthe forearm, cal and breast the later case, several diferent ver- used to generate the test signal i cage. The electrical potentials produced by sions ofthe signal, measured at df. industrial ECG test equipment, the ‘activity of the heart, as measured ferent points, are often recorded st which s consequently rather expor, between these electrodes, aro then recorded. the same time. With this type of sive. However you will lookin vainae Lat v_| — Figure |. A heartbeat in deta the waveform foreach contraction can be broken down into various parts, idertied using the letters P through U. {fora microcontole in the schematic diagram of this BCG. simulator, which is shown in Figure 2. Only two standard logic IGs and a few passive components are used, [C1 is 2 2A-stage binary counter with an Integrated oscillator and divider ‘nth tho indicated crystal frequency 0f 4,194,908 Fz, a 16-Fz squarewave signal appears at the Q18 output (pin 10), Switch Sib picks up a see: ‘ond signal (2 Hz er 1 Ha). The 16-Hz signal clocks 1C2, which is a decimal counter with ten outputs. The sec- ond signal is differentiated by the combination of C3 and R3. Needle. shaped pulses aro present at pin 15 of the docimal countar(1C2), as indi cated on the schematic diagram ‘These pulses reset the counter to zero at the appropriate times. The Job of diode De is to block the nega- tive portion of the pulses, ‘The decimal counter repeatedly reaches a count of 9 and holds this state, since pin 11 is connected to the /Enable input (pin 18) It is only reset when the reset pulse occurs. ‘The setting ofthe switch thus infu- fences the duration of the U interval, which ultimately results in a siu- lated heart rate of either 60 Hz ot 120 Hz. i necessary, a 4MFiz crystal can bo used. This will reduce the heart rate of the signal to 57.2 Hz or 114.4 Ha, respectivoly. ‘The ECG signal is gonerated in a remarkably simple manner using a dozon discrete components, Time- displaced square wave signals appear at tho Qt, Q4 and 6 out Dts. The first pulse (rom pin 2) is ‘converted into the P wave by the Integrator R6/C4. The value of R6 ‘chosen such that C4 charges expo- ‘entially trom 0 V to around £ V. The T wave is generated by a socond integrator (R7/C4), Sinco R7 has loss than half the rosistaice of R6, the pulse from 6 charges C4 to more than twice the voltage (2.2 V) of the P wave, ‘The differentiator C5/R10 inserts the R pulse botwoen these two waves. Resistor RE limite the charge current for O5, while DS ensures thatthe peak value ofthe pulse does not exceed approximately 3.8 V. The negative portion of the pulse (onthe falling edga of te Input pulso) is shorted out by Dé, so that all that romains is @ good -0.7 V due to the vote age drop of Da. This produces a very pretty S component, Diode D3, with ts series resistor 9. lashes during the R spike. ‘The sigaala from both intagrators and the éifferentiator are gummed by R11 and R12 (with different weightings). Capacitor C7 smoothes out excessively spiky pulse com- ponents. The final waveform is algo shown on the schematic diagram. The voltage ivider provides eutput signals with ampli- tudes of 1 mV (for connection tothe input of ECG equipment) and 1 V. Insensitive equip- ment that normally works with signals that have already boon amplified, such as sec- ondary monitors, can be connected to the second output ‘A.8.V battery can be used as the power source, The circuit draws only around 25:mA, so the battery should last quite a while. The circuit can be assembled in a few minutes using the pritod cireuit board shown in Fig: lure 3. Tho ICs may be mounted in sockets. If you cannot obtain the slide switch, you can use two separate, single-pole toggle ‘switches, one for the operating voltage and Figure 2. An analogue arirary signal generator using disrete components,Figure 3. The ECG tester fis in a smal plastic enclosure. COMPONENTS LisT RiaRi4= 1040 1 = LEO, high eficeney ais sea DS = sre Sade 200 mW icin capacers: a= ai7 er Gime Miscelanaous: = Lae Sm prch 51 skde pth, 2-ole chanegover(Con- Gh = 4008 Sr pach ra lori fn 700097) E5.Ce = 230 Sm peck BT = 5579 baryon eds CF toon nm pec Xi = 419804 Mis gure yaa Erlonre 60195123 rim (Conrad Ee Semicondctors: Troncin S286) Drpnoe = et48 3 wander fanaa socket 2m or 26) the other for switching the pulse rate. Te the battery, Miniature banana jacks a ‘assembled circuit board fs in the suggested (2.0 mm or 26 mm) ate an excellent Desig edting: Karel Wolven, ‘ABS enclosure, which also provides room for choice for output connectors,