Simple voltage-controlled current source for wideband electrical bioimpedance spectroscopy: circuit dependences and limitations

In this work, the single Op-Amp with load-in-the-loop topology as a current source is revisited. This circuit topology was already used as a voltage-controlled current source (VCCS) in the 1960s but was left unused when the requirements for higher frequency arose among the applications of electrical bioimpedance (EBI). The aim of the authors is not only limited to show that with the currently available electronic devices it is perfectly viable to use this simple VCCS topology as a working current source for wideband spectroscopy applications of EBI, but also to identify the limitations and the role of each of the circuit components in the most important parameter of a current for wideband applications: the output impedance. The study includes the eventual presence of a stray capacitance and also an original enhancement, driving with current the VCCS. Based on the theoretical analysis and experimental measurements, an accurate model of the output impedance is provided, explaining the role of the main constitutive elements of the circuit in the source’s output impedance. Using the topologies presented in this work and the proposed model, any electronic designer can easily implement a simple and efficient current source for wideband EBI spectroscopy applications, e.g. in this study, values above 150 k at 1 MHz have been obtained, which to the knowledge of the authors are the largest values experimentally measured and reported for a current source in EBI at this frequency.