Data Sheet ADAS1000/ADAS1000-1/ADAS1000-2
Rev. C | Page 39 of 85
2.4 V). The ADAS1000 operates over a voltage range of 3.15 V to
5.5 V. If using GAIN 2/GAIN 3 and dc lead-off, an increased
AVDD supply voltage (minimum 3.6 V) allows dc lead-off to flag
correctly at higher gains.
When using dc lead-off, it is recommended to also use the ADC
out of range feature because this function provides additional
information (see the ADC Out of Range section).
DC Lead-Off Debounce Timer
The DCLO circuit has a debounce timer that uses an 8-bit
saturating up/down counter clocked at 2 kHz. The debounce timer
counts up when one of the analog comparator trip signals an open
electrode. Otherwise, the debounce timer counts down. The output
of the timer only flags a lead-off event when the output reaches
(and saturates at) all ones. The total amount of time that is required
from the time an open electrode is detected internally until the user
receives a signal is 125 ms. After an open electrode is detected and
resolved, the debounce does not signal an on lead condition until
the debounce timer counts down to (and saturates at) all zeros.
The debounce time is fixed. The debounce function is always
enabled.
AC LEAD-OFF DETECTION
The alternative method of sensing if the electrodes are connected to
the patient is based on injecting ac currents into each channel and
measuring the amplitudes of the resulting voltages. The system uses
a fixed carrier frequency at 2.039 kHz, which is high enough to be
removed by the ADAS1000/ADAS1000-1/ADAS1000-2 on-chip
digital filters without introducing phase or amplitude artifacts into
the ECG signal.
AC LO
DAC
2.039kHz
12.5n A TO
100nA rms
LA LL RA V1 V2
09660-166
CM
11kΩ11kΩ11kΩ11kΩ
11kΩ11kΩ
Figure 68. Simplified AC Lead-Off Configuration
The amplitude of the signal is nominally 2 V p-p and is centered on
1.3 V relative to the chip AGND level. It is ac-coupled into each
electrode. The polarity of the ac lead-off signal can be configured
on a per-electrode basis through Bits[23:18] of the
LOFFCTL register (see Table 29). All electrodes can be driven in
phase, and some can be driven with reversed polarity to minimize
the total injected ac current. Drive amplitude is also programmable.
AC lead-off detection functions only on the input pins (LA, LL,
RA, V1, V2, and CM_IN) and is not supported for the RLD_OUT
pin.
The resulting analog input signal applied to the ECG channels is
I/Q demodulated and amplitude detected. The resulting amplitude
is low pass filtered and sent to the digital threshold detectors.
AC lead-off detection offers user programmable dedicated upper
and lower threshold voltages (see Table 39 and Table 40). Note that
these programmed thresholds voltage vary with the ECG channel
gain. The threshold voltages are not affected by the current level
that is programmed. All active channels use the same detection
thresholds.
A properly connected electrode has a very small signal as the drive
current flows into the right leg (RL), whereas a disconnected
electrode has a larger signal as determined by a capacitive voltage
divider (source and cable capacitance).
If the signal measured is larger than the upper threshold, then the
impedance is high, so a wire is probably off. Selecting the
appropriate threshold setting depends on the particular cable/
electrode/protection scheme, as these parameters are typically
unique for the specific use case. This can take the form of starting
with a high threshold and ratcheting it down until a lead-off is
detected, then increasing the threshold by some safety margin. This
gives simple dynamic thresholding that automatically compensates
for many of the circuit variables.
The lower threshold is added for cases where only ac lead-off is in
use and for situations where an electrode cable has been off for a
long time. In this case, the dc voltage has saturated to a rail, or the
electrode cable has somehow shorted to a supply. In either case,
there is no ac signal present, yet the electrode may not be
connected. The lower threshold checks for a minimum signal level.
In addition to the lead-off flag, the user can also read back the
resulting voltage measurement available on a per channel basis. The
measured amplitude for each of the individual channels is available
in Register 0x31 through Register 0x35 (LOAMxx registers, see
Tabl e 52). The ac lead-off (ACLO) measurement depends on the
operating mode. If the device is configured for electrode mode, the
amplitude result for the measured electrode is returned. If the
device is configured for lead mode, the result is for a pair or
combination of electrodes that contributes to the channel. Channel
gain also applies to the ACLO result because channel gain is applied
to the ECG measurement. Higher channel gains result in higher
codes in the ac lead-off results.
When an electrode is completely disconnected (and no dc lead-off
is enabled), the ECG input may float and, depending on leakage
currents, the ECG input may float towards either supply rail. If the
ECG input floats to the supply rail, the ECG channel saturates and
the ACLO amplitude result then returns 0 or close to 0, appearing
as though the electrode is connected. Therefore, in addition to
monitoring the ACLO flag, it is recommended that the user also
monitors the ADC out of range flags. It is recommended that the
electrode is considered off when either the ADC is flagging out of
range or the ac lead-off flag is set.
The ESIS protection network and defibrillation protection load the
circuit and have a direct effect on the sensitivity of the ac lead-off
circuit.
The propagation delay for detecting an ac lead-off event is <10 ms.
Note that the ac lead-off function is disabled when the calibration
DAC is enabled.