Bio medical Recorder

Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
 Bio medical Recorder

Recorders are devices that provide permanent visual trace or

record of an applied electrical signal and response to it by
the human
Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
 Electro Cardiograph [ECG]
• ECG is an Instrument which records the electrical activity associated
with the heart
• ECG provides many valuable information like
(i) Presence of inactive part [infarction]
(ii) Enlargement of heart muscle [Cardiac hypertrophy]
Though the electric field generated by the heart can be best
characterised by vector quantities, the measurement using scalar
quantity alone is more Convenient

Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
Block Diagram:

Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
Note:
• The Frequency range used is (0.05 Hz – 150 Hz)
• The CMRR of differential amplifier should be (100-120)dB with 5 K Ὡ
Construction:
•The potential from the patient body is picked by the electrodes
•Since there are many electrodes, The selection of electrodes is done by
Lead selector
- This is pre-programmed for particular time intervals
Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
•The Pre-Amplifier is usually 3 or 4 stage differential amplifier having
Sufficient negative feedback
•The power amplifier is generally a Push Pull amplifier
- The Base of the first transistor (B1) is driven by the Pre-
Amplifier
- The base of another transistor (B2) is driven by the feedback signal
•The O/p of the power amplifier is single ended which drives the pen circuitary
•The frequency selective network provides the necessary Dampling of the
Pen Motor
Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
 • The Auxiliary circuits provide
(i) 1mV Calibration signal
(ii) Automatic blocking of amplifier during Lead switch changes
(iii) Also speed control circuitry for chart driver motor

Note :
The recorder used here is “Direct Recording”

Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
 Operation:
•There are two modes of operation
(i) Measurement Mode - Used for measurement
(ii) Standby mode - Used for calibration
In standby mode the paper is kept stationary and only stylus moves in
response to the i/p signals
This mode allows recorder to adjust (i) Gain
(ii) Base position controls without
wasting the paper
Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
 •In measurement mode the electro cardiograph are invariably
recorded on the graph paper with horizontal and vertical lines at
1mm intervals
•The paper recording speed is 25mm/s
•The sensitivity of the Electrocardiograph is typically 10mm/mv

Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
Note :
• The American Association states in a guideline that the leakage current
should not be greater than 10 micro ampers when measured from patient’s lead
to ground
- for this purpose Proper isolation should be provided
Isolation is either provided by (i) Opto Isolators
(ii) Transformer coupled isolators

Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
Multichannel ECG:
•Most of the machines used for clinical purposes are single channel
machines, i.e. only one lead can be recorded at a time
•The Multi channel ECG machine carry several channels to be recorded
simultaneously
- this has several advantages
(i) Reduces required to complete several sets of recording
(ii) When two or more leads are recorded simultaneously
then the relative study is possible
Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.
• The ROM stores the operating program which controls the head selection and
other necessary data which controls the device
• The ECG signals are first amplified, filtered and sent to the there channel
multiplexer
• The multiplexed analog signal is sampled and digitized and then sent to
microprocessor
• The sampling rate is usually 200-1000 samples/second
• The uP stores the digitized signal in RAM for temporary storage
• Then the data are either stored in digital form or it is then sent to D/A converter
and then to the plotter
Reference: Khandpur, R.S., “Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation”, TATA McGraw-Hill, New Delhi, 2003.