EEE312 Course Notes

Biomedical Electronics and Measurements

PHYSIOLOGICAL SYSTEMS OF THE BODY

Human body is a complex engineering marvel, which contains various types of systems such as electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, chemical and thermal etc. These systems communicate internally with each other and also with external environment. By means of a multi-level control system and communications network, the individual systems enable the human body to perform useful tasks, sustain life and reproduce itself. 1- The Cardiovascular S s!e" The cardiovascular system is a complex closed hydraulic system, which performs the essential service of transportation of oxygen, carbon dioxide, numerous chemical compounds and blood cells. #- The $es%ira!or S s!e" The respiratory system in the human body is a pneumatic system in which an air pump (diaphragm alternately creates negative and positive pressures in a sealed chamber (thoracic cavity and causes air to be sucked into and forced out of a pair of elastic bags (lungs . &- The 'ervous S s!e" The nervous system is the control and the communication network for the body which coordinates the functions of the various organs. !apid communication between the various parts, the effective integrated activity of different organs and tissues and coordinates contraction of muscle are almost entirely dependent upon the nervous system. "t is thus, the most highly developed and complex system in the body. The centre of all these activities is the brain (central information processor with memory, computational power, decision making capability and a host of input output channels. (- O!hers S s!e"s There are some other important functional systems in the body, such as digestive system, excretory system, reproductive system and the biochemical system which perform vital functions re#uired to carry out the various body functions.
2-1 Prof. Medhat M. Abdel-Aal March -2009

EEE312 Course Notes

Biomedical Electronics and Measurements

SO)$CES OF BIOMEDICAL SG'ALS

Biomedical signals are those signals (phenomenon that conveys information which are used primarily for extracting information on a biological system under investigation. The process of extracting information cloud be as simple as feeling the pulse of a person on the wrist or as complex as analy$ing the structure of internal soft tissues by an ultrasound scanner.

Sources o* Bio"edical Si+,als

2-2 Prof. Medhat M. Abdel-Aal March -2009

EEE312 Course Notes

Biomedical Electronics and Measurements

Biomedical signals originate from a variety of sources, such as% Bioelectrical Signals These uni#ue to the biomedical systems. They are generated by nerve cells and muscle cells. Their basic source is the cell membrane potential which under certain conditions may be excited to generate an action otential. The electric field generated by the action of many cells constitutes the bio-electric signal. &or examples the ECG (electroencephalograph signals. Bioacoustic Signals The measurement of acoustic signals created by many biomedical phenomena provides information about the underlying phenomena. &or examples% flow of such blood in the heart, through the heart's valves and flow of air through the upper and lower airways and in the lungs which generate typical acoustic signal. Biomechanical Signals These signals originate from mechanical function of the biological system. They include all types of motion and displacement signals, pressure and flow signals etc. &or example the movement of the chest wall in accordance with the respiratory activity. Biochemical Signals The signals which are obtained as a result of chemical measurements from the living tissue or from samples analy$ed in the laboratory. &or examples the measurements of partial pressure of carbon-dioxide ( %CO# and concentration of various ions in the blood. (electrocardiograph and EEG

2-3 Prof. Medhat M. Abdel-Aal March -2009

EEE312 Course Notes

Biomedical Electronics and Measurements

Biomagnetic Signals (xtremely weak magnetic fields are produced by various organs such as the brain, heart and lungs. The measurement of these signals provides information which is not available in other types of bio-signals such as bioelectric signals. &or example the magneto-encephalograph signal from the brain . Bio-optical Signals These signals are generated as result of optical functions of the biological systems, occurring either naturally or induced by the measurement process. &or example, blood oxygenation may be estimated by measuring the transmitted)back scattered light from the tissue at different wavelengths. Bio-impedance Signals The impedance of the tissue is a source of important information concerning its composition, blood distribution and blood volume etc. The measurement of galvanic skin resistance is a typical example of this type of signal. The bio-impedance signal is also obtained by in*ecting sinusoidal current in the tissue and measuring the voltage drop generated by the tissue impedance. &or example, the measurement of respiration rate based on bio-impedance techni#ue.

2-4 Prof. Medhat M. Abdel-Aal March -2009

EEE312 Course Notes

Biomedical Electronics and Measurements

BASIC MEDICAL I'ST$)M$'TATIO' SYSTEM

The primary purpose of medical instrumentation is to measure or determine the presence of some physical #uantity that may some way assist the medical personnel to make better diagnosis and treatment. +ccordingly, many types of instrumentation systems are presently used in hospitals and other medical facilities. The ma*ority of the instruments are electrical or electronic systems, although mechanical systems such as ventilators or spirometers are also employed. Because of the predominantly large number of electronic systems used in medical practice, the concepts explained hereafter are mostly related to electronic medical instruments. ,ertain characteristic features, which are common to most instrumentation systems, are also applicable to medical instrumentation system.

Ge,eral Bloc- Dia+ra" o* a Medical I,s!ru"e,!a!io, S s!e"

2-5 Prof. Medhat M. Abdel-Aal March -2009

EEE312 Course Notes

Biomedical Electronics and Measurements

"n the broadest sense, any medical instrument would comprise of the following four basic functional components% 1- Measured The physical #uantity or condition that the instrumentation system measure is called the measured. The source for the measured is the human body which generates a variety of signals. The measured may be on the surface of the body (electrocardiogram potential or it may be blood pressure in the chambers of the heart. 2- Transducer/Sensor A transducer is a device that converts one form of energy to another . Because of the familiar advantages of electric and electronic methods of measurements, it is the usual practice to convert into electrical #uantities all non-electrical phenomenons associated with the measured with the help of a transducer. &or example% a pie$o-electric crystal converts mechanical vibrations into an electrical signal and therefore, is a transducer. The primary function of the transducer is to provide a usable output in response to the measured which may be a specific physical #uantity, property or condition. "n practice, two or more transducers may be used simultaneously to make measurements of number of physiological parameters. Sensor converts a physical measured to an electrical signal. The sensors should be minimally invasive and interface with the living system with minimum extraction of energy.

2-6 Prof. Medhat M. Abdel-Aal March -2009

EEE312 Course Notes

Biomedical Electronics and Measurements

3- Signal Conditioner ,onverts the output of the transducer into an electrical #uantity suitable for operation of the display or recording system. -ignal conditioners may vary in complexity from a simple resistance network or impedance matching device to multi-stage amplifiers and other complex electronic circuitry. -ignal conditioning usually include functions such as amplification, filtering (analog or digital analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversion or signal transmission circuitry. They help in increasing the sensitivity of instruments by amplification of the original signal or its transduced form. 4- Display System .rovides a visible representation of the #uantity as a displacement on a scale, or on the chart of a recorder, or on the screen of a cathode ray tube or in numerical form. +lthough, most of the displays are in the visual form, other forms of displays such as audible signals from alarm or foetal /oppler ultrasonic signals are also used. "n addition of the above, the processed signal after signal conditioning may be passed on to% 1- Alarm System 0ith upper and lower ad*ustable thresholds to indicate when the measured goes beyond limits. 2- Data Storage To maintain the data for future reference. "t may be a hard copy on a paper or on magnetic or semiconductor memories. 3- Data Transmission 1sing standard interface connections so that information obtained may be carried to other parts of an integrated system or to transmit it from one location to another. "n most of the medical instrumentation systems, some form of cali ration is necessary at regular intervals during their operation. The calibration signal is
2-7 Prof. Medhat M. Abdel-Aal March -2009

EEE312 Course Notes

Biomedical Electronics and Measurements

usually applied to the sensor input or as early in the signal conditioning chain as possible.

"n many measurements in the medical field, some form of stimulus or energy is given to the patient and the effect it has on the patient is measured. The stimulus may be visual in the form of flash of light or audio tone or direct electrical stimulus of some part of the nervous system. + typical example is that of recording of the evolved response with EEG machine when visual)audible stimulus is given to the sub*ect under test. "n some situations, it is re#uired to have automatic control of the transducer, stimulus or signal conditioning part of the system. This is achieved by using a feedback loop in which part of the output from signal conditioning or display device is fed back to the input stage. ,ontrol and feedback may be automatic or manual. +lmost all measuring and recording e#uipment is now controlled by microprocessors as this makes it possible to design e#uipment that re#uires minimal user intervention, calibration and set up procedure. 2easurements on the human body can be made at several levels on the functional systems and sub-systems. &or example3 it is easiest to make measurements on the human body as a whole due to accessible environment. (xamples of measurement made on the human body are recording of electrocardiogram and measurement of temperature. The next level of measurements can be made on the ma*or functional systems of the body such as the cardiovascular system, the pulmonary system and so on. 2any of the ma*or systems communicate with each other as well as with external environment. The functional systems can be further sub-divided into sub-systems and organs and still smaller units up to the cellular and molecular level. 2easurements in the medical field are made all these levels with specially designed instruments with appropriate degree of sophistication. 2easurements in the medical field can be classified into two types% in !i!o and in !itro. !n "i"o measurement is made on or within the living organism itself, such as measurement of pressure in the chambers of the heart.
2-8 Prof. Medhat M. Abdel-Aal March -2009

EEE312 Course Notes

Biomedical Electronics and Measurements

!n "itro measurement is erformed outside the bod". &or example3 the measurement of blood glucose level in a sample of blood drawn from the patient.

2-9 Prof. Medhat M. Abdel-Aal March -2009