Muscle BioAmp BisCute (DIY Soldering Kit)

What is it?

Muscle BioAmp BisCute is the ultimate DIY soldering kit for anyone interested in exploring the fascinating world of Electromyography (EMG). This compact, affordable single-channel muscle sensor is designed for precision EMG sensing, making it perfect for hobbyists, students, and educators alike.

With this kit, you’ll not only build your own muscle sensor from the ground up but also gain hands-on experience in soldering and electronics. Once assembled, the Muscle BioAmp BisCute allows you to measure and analyze muscle activity, opening the door to countless Human-Computer Interface (HCI) projects. We have some project ideas for you: https://bit.ly/UDL-projects.

For complete documentation, visit the link.

What is included in the kit?

• Muscle BioAmp BisCute PCB.
• Passive Components
  • Ceramic capacitors.
  • Electrolytic capacitors
  • Resistors
  • Quad OpAmp
• Free* BioAmp Accessories Kit,
  • *3 Gel Electrodes.
  • BioAmp Cable v2 (50cm)
  • Muscle BioAmp Band
  • 3 Jumper Cables

*Note:

1. Gel electrodes should only be used once, and discarded afterward – treat them like sterile medical products!
2. Muscle BioAmp BisCute comes with 3 electrodes but you can easily buy more from here.
3. Don’t leave the gel residue on the snap electrodes of the Muscle BioAmp Band for longer than an hour as it may damage them over a period of time.
4. Wash the Muscle BioAmp Band with liquid soap and rinse it properly. Use it again after it is completely dry.
5. BioAmp Accessories Kit is free till the stock lasts.

Features & Specifications:

• Input Voltage: 3.3 – 30 V
• Input Impedance: 10^11 Ω
• Fixed Gain: x2420
• Bandpass filter: 72 – 720 Hz
• Compatible Hardware:  Any development board with an ADC (Arduino UNO & Nano, Espressif ESP32, Adafruit QtPy, STM32 Blue Pill, BeagleBone Black, Raspberry Pi Pico, to name just a few) or any standalone ADC of your choice.
• BioPotentials: EMG
• No. of channels: 1
• Electrodes: 3 (Positive, Negative, and Reference)
• Dimensions: 3.0 x 4.5 cm
• Open Source: Hardware + Software

What is EMG?

Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles.

Electromyography is used in some real-world applications like,

1. Prosthetic hands, 
2. Human augmentation, 
3. Games controllers, 
4. Rehabilitation and 
5. Physical therapy to name just a few.

Even doctors use them to diagnose various neuromuscular ailments.

Recently, it was reported that Meta is working on wearable EMG sensors to track user movements in the metaverse.

The image below shows an EMG signal recorded with Muscle BioAmp BisCute.

Assembling the Kit:

You can assemble it in some simple steps that are given below or see the interactive BOM file.

 

For a detailed assembly guide, you can watch the below video:

Connecting with Arduino and BioAmp Cable:

After assembling the kit, you can pair it with any development board with an ADC (Arduino UNO & Nano, Espressif ESP32, Adafruit QtPy, STM32 Blue Pill, BeagleBone Black, Raspberry Pi Pico, to name just a few) or any standalone ADC of your choice.

To measure the EMG signals, just connect either BioAmp Cable v2 or BioAmp Cable v3 with the Muscle BioAmp BisCute as shown in the images below, and get started.

CAUTION: Make sure to follow the above diagram while making the connections between your Muscle BioAmp BisCute & Arduino (or any other ADC of your choice), especially the GND and VCC else it may damage the muscle sensor.

How to use it?

Why we made Muscle BioAmp BisCute?

We made Muscle BioAmp BisCute so that you can learn how to solder the components on a PCB from scratch and if you do everything right then you will be able to record the muscle signals (EMG) as well.

Moreover,  EMG devices are typically quite expensive, as they are medical-grade diagnostic devices. But with the most affordable DIY Muscle Sensor like this, you can not only learn soldering but also record biopotential signals from muscles, conduct experiments, and make amazing projects at a fraction of the cost of a professional EMG machine.

We want to make neuroscience affordable and accessible to all so that students and researchers get inclined towards neuroscience and explore it by doing awesome projects at ease.

 

For the full documentation, you can visit our GitHub Repository: https://github.com/upsidedownlabs/Muscle-BioAmp-BisCute

For any queries, you can directly mail us at support@upsidedownlabs.tech