Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

Department of Electrical Engineering

EE 402 Control System Lab.

B. Tech.: Electrical, Sem. : VII

EXPERIMENT 7: Biometric Process Measurements

AIM
The experiments designed and fabricated to measure Pulse Plethysmogram (PPG)
and Skin Temperature (SKT) that can be used as an indicator of brain activity, state
of mind, or psychological state.
PULSE PLETHYSMOGRAM (PPG)
THEORY
The Pulse Plethysmogram (PPG) is a simple and low-cost optical technique that can
be used to detect blood volume changes in the micro vascular bed of tissue. It is
often used non-invasively to make measurements at the skin surface. The PPG
waveform comprises a pulsatile (AC) physiological waveform attributed to cardiac
synchronous changes in the blood volume with each heart beat, and is
superimposed on a slowly varying (DC) baseline with various lower frequency
components attributed to respiration, sympathetic nervous system activity and
thermoregulation.
The sensor consists of a light source and photo detector [The lightemitting diode
(Siemens SFH487) and the phototransistor (Siemens SFH309FA)]; light is shone
through the tissues and variation in blood volume alters the amount of light falling
on the detector. The source and detector can be mounted on either side of a finger
to detect changes in transmitted light.

Figure 1: Circuit used to fabricate the PPG Sensor

The amplifier (Figure 1) uses an LM358 dual op amp to provide two identical broadlytuned
band pass stages. The circuit runs from a single 6 Volt battery (a regulated 5 volt supply can also
be used). The potentiometer allows the overall gain to be adjusted. Components are not critical
but the two 2.2 F capacitors must be able to stand some reverse bias so they should be non
polarized or tantalum.
PROCEDURE
1. Fabricate the circuit as shown in Figure 1.
2. Measure and document the waveform you get at the Collector of the phototransistor.
3. Measure and document the waveform you get at the output (Pin 1) of the dual opamp
shown.
4. Measure and document the waveform you get at the output (Pin 7) of the dual opamp
shown.
5. Now adjust the 10K pot to see that the output waveform (from Pin 7 of the dual opamp)
changes.
6. Specifically, connect the output of the amplifier to the input of an oscilloscope. Adjust the
potentiometer so that the output is about 2 Volts peak, the trace should then look like that
in Figure 2, with each pulse wave clearly visible.
7. Now compute the interval between successive peaks to determine the heart rate.
Figure 2: Expected output of PPG Sensor seen with the oscilloscope.

THEORY
It might seem odd that a psychologist would be interested in the study of skin temperature.
However the events that take place in the brain influence skin temperature. A peripheral

response, like a change in skin temperature, can be used as an indicator of brain activity, state of
mind, or psychological state. Skin temperature depends on three types of factors:
- Environmental conditions.
- Individual variables, such as, genetics, health, etc.
- Cognitive / emotional or psychological states.
When the environmental or individual factors are controlled, or held constant, the skin
temperature can still vary between 1 and 2 0 F, due to a variation in a subjects cognitive /
emotional or psychological states. The circuit is as shown in Figure 1.

4.7k

1.2V

Figure 1: Circuit used to fabricate the 0F SKT Sensor

PROCEDURE
1. Fabricate the circuit as shown in Figure 1.
2. Measure and document the waveform you get at the output pin of the
temperature sensor, LM35.
3. Measure and document the waveform you get at the output (V OUT) of the
circuit shown.
RESULT AND INFERENCE