ADS1293 ECG Breakout

WHO I AM?

Hello! I'm an independent electronics and embedded systems hobbyist with a passion for open-source hardware, PCB design, and embedded firmware development. I enjoy designing practical electronics that are affordable, well documented, and accessible to anyone interested in learning or building their own projects.

Most of my work focuses on creating open-source hardware that others can study, modify, and improve. I believe sharing designs and documentation helps the maker community grow while making advanced electronics more accessible to students, hobbyists, and researchers.

ADS1293 Open-Source ECG Breakout Board

Current Status

The hardware design has been completed and is ready for its first prototype.

The schematic, PCB layout, BOM, and manufacturing files have all been finalized. The next stage of the project is prototype fabrication, electrical validation, and firmware development.

As an independent open-source developer, prototype manufacturing is currently the largest obstacle to moving the project forward. PCBWay sponsorship would make it possible to validate the design and release a fully tested version to the community.

Project Overview

This project is an open-source ECG (Electrocardiogram) analog front-end built around the Texas Instruments ADS1293.

The objective is to create an affordable, compact, and well-documented ECG platform suitable for education, research, embedded development, and rapid prototyping. By using a modern integrated analog front-end, high-quality ECG acquisition can be achieved at a significantly lower cost than traditional laboratory equipment.

The long-term vision is to develop a complete open-source ECG ecosystem, including hardware, firmware, desktop software, and wireless connectivity.

This project is intended for educational and research purposes only and is not a certified medical device.

Features

Texas Instruments ADS1293 ECG Analog Front-End

SPI communication interface

Reverse-polarity protected 3.3 V power input

Input fuse protection

Dedicated crystal oscillator

Power filtering and decoupling

ADS1293 interrupt and status pins exposed

Compact layout suitable for embedded applications

Optional SPI Flash footprint for onboard waveform storage

The board is designed as a complete ECG acquisition front-end and can be connected to a wide variety of microcontrollers.

Optional SPI Flash

The PCB includes an optional footprint for a 1 Gbit (128 MB) SPI Flash memory device.

This component is not required for normal operation and can be omitted to reduce BOM cost. Future firmware revisions will use the flash memory for waveform logging and standalone recording applications.

Estimated Hardware Cost

ADS1293: $10–20

PCB: $10–20

Oscillator, protection circuitry, and passives: $3–5

Optional SPI Flash: $2–6

Estimated total hardware cost: approximately USD $50 (excluding PCB assembly).

Future Development

Planned future revisions include:

ESP32 integration

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity

Standalone ECG recorder

Onboard display

Open-source desktop software

Mobile application support

Waveform logging to onboard flash memory

Open Source

All hardware design files, firmware, software, and documentation are / will be released under open-source licenses.

The goal is to provide a platform that anyone can study, manufacture, modify, and improve without restrictions.

Source files, documentation, firmware, and future revisions will all be made publicly available on my linked github.

Why I'm Requesting Sponsorship

This project is developed independently in my spare time and is not funded by a company, university, or commercial organization.

PCBWay's sponsorship would directly enable the first production run, allowing the design to be tested, verified, improved, and released as a proven open-source project.

Any sponsorship will be used exclusively for:

PCB fabrication

Component procurement

Prototype assembly

Electrical validation and testing

After receiving and assembling the boards, I will document the build process, perform validation testing, publish project updates, and release all design files and documentation publicly. PCBWay will be credited as the sponsor throughout the project documentation.

Disclaimer

This project is intended solely for education, research, and development. It is not certified medical equipment and must not be used for clinical diagnosis, treatment, or patient monitoring.

WORDS TO PCBWAY

Thank you for taking the time to review my project.

I truly appreciate PCBWay's continued support of the open-source hardware community. Many independent developers have been able to transform ideas into real, fully documented projects thanks to your sponsorship program, and I hope to do the same with this ECG breakout board.

Your support would allow me to manufacture the first prototypes, validate the design, publish testing results, and release a reliable open-source ECG platform that others can build upon.

I will document the entire development process, share the assembled boards, publish future revisions, and proudly acknowledge PCBWay's sponsorship throughout the project.

Thank you for considering my application.