Design of a low noise, low power, high dynamic range amplifier-filter circuit for recording neural signals using multielectrode arrays

In the paper we present a design of the circuit for recording and processing electrical signals from alive neural tissue using multi-electrode arrays. The design is optimised with respect to critical requirements for such circuits, i.e. low noise, low power dissipation, good linearity and high dynamic range. The single readout channel is built of an AC-coupling circuit with the cut-off frequency below 1 Hz, low noise preamplifier, two stages of band-pass filters with tuneable bandwidth from 1 Hz to 10 kHz and an output amplifier with variable gain. The circuit has been designed in a 0.35 mum CMOS process and it is suitable for integration in a multi-channel ASIC.