Instrumentation Amplifiers

Instrumentation amplifiers are a type of precision gain block, a differential amplifier (a type of electronic amplifier that amplifies the voltage difference between two inputs but suppresses any voltage common to the two inputs). Instrumentation Amplifiers are also known as in-amps.Common applications are: Test & Measurement Industrial Devices Data Acquisition Devices Medical Devices Any noisy environment where large common-mode signals are presentHow do instrumentation amplifiers work?An instrumentation amplifier measures small signals in a noisy environment. The noise generally is "common-mode noise" (the difference between the noise-free common mode voltage and the actual common mode voltage). An instrumentation amplifier uses its common-mode rejection to distinguish the noise from the signal of interest.What are the instrumentation amplifiers used for?Instrumentation amplifiers are needed in nearly every field of electronics, particularly in the test and measurement industry. They can be used as a voltage follower, selective inversion circuit, a current-to-voltage converter, active rectifier, integrator, a variety of filters, and a voltage comparator.Unlike instrumentation amplifiers (In Amp), operational amplifiers (Op Amp) are high-gain voltage amplifying devices with a differential input.