Biomedical Measurements

Biomedical Measurements

• Biomedical Measurements and Instrumentation is the field of creating such

instruments that help us to measure, record and transmit data to or from the
body.

Human physiology

“A man is a machine, extremely complex, but still a machine” (Arthur Vander)

Electrophysiology
• Study of electric properties of biological cells and organs
• Includes measurement of voltage changes and currents from cell level
to organ level
• In neuroscience, potentials of nerve cells and action potentials are
measured
Biomedical Instrument System
o A medical instrument performs a specific function on a biological system.
o Function: Exact measurement of physiological parameters like
• Blood Pressure
• Velocity of the Blood Flow
• Action Potentials of Heart Muscles
• Temperature
• Ph value of the Blood
Components of Biomedical Instrument system
Generalized Medical Instrumentation System
Components of Medical Instrumentation System

• Measurand

• Sensor / Transducer

• Signal Conditioning

• Output Display

• Auxiliary Components
Measurand

 The physical quantity, property, or condition that the system

measures is called measurand.
 The accessibility of the measurand is important because it
may be:
• Internal (Blood Pressure)
• On the Body Surface (Electrocardiogram)
• Emanate from the body (Infrared Radiation)
• Derived from Tissue Sample (such as Blood or a Biopsy)
Signal Conditioning

• Simple signal conditioners – which amplifies,

modifies and filter the signal or changes the electrical
output of transducer in a suitable manner to run the
display devices.
Output Display
• The results of the measurement process must be
displayed in a form that the human operator can perceive.

• The best form for the display may be:

• Numerical

• Graphical,

• Discrete or Continuous,

• Permanent or Temporary

• Visual / Hearing
Auxiliary Components

• Many forms of control and feedback may be required to elicit the measurand, to
adjust the sensor and signal conditioner, and to direct the flow of output for display,
storage or transmission.
• The control and feedback may be automatic or manual.
Auxiliary Components

• Data may be stored briefly to meet requirements of signal conditioning or to

enable operator to examine the data that precede alarm conditions
• Conventional principles of communication can often be used to transmit data
to remote displays at nurses’ stations, medical centers, or medical data-processing
facilities.
Sources of Bioelectric Potentials
Bioelectric Potentials - Certain systems of the body generate their own monitoring

signals conveying useful information about the functions they represent. Such signals

are bio electric potentials

-Electrochemical activities of certain cells produce ionic voltages known as Bioelectric

potentials.

-Bioelectric potentials are associated with the following activities.

1.Brain activity.2.Heart beat.3.Muscle functions.

-By using transducers generated ionic potentials are converted into electric potentials.
SOURCES OF BIOELECTRIC POTENTIALS

• Bioelectric Potentials: for various functions, body generate their own

monitoring signals which contain some useful information.
• These signals are bioelectric potentials associated with nerve conduction,
brain activity, heartbeat, muscle activity and so on.
• Its an ionic voltages and its produced by certain electrochemical activity
by special types of cells. Transducers can convert this ionic to electrical
voltages.
• First time Italian Professor, Luigi Galvani(1786), claim that he found
electricity in muscle of a frog’s leg. In human 1903 by Dutch physician
willem Einthoven.
Resting and Action Potentials

• Certain types of cells such as nerve and muscle cells are encased in
semipermeable membrane.
• Surrounding the cell contain body fluids which is conductive solution having
charged atoms kwon as atoms.
• The principal Ions are sodium(Na+), Potassium(K+), and Chloride(CL-).
• Cell Membrane allows K+ and Cl- to enter inside but blocks the Na+
• Because of that more Na+ outside and Cl- and K+ inside. Due to less K+ ,
outside cell shows + and inside is -.
Resting and Action Potentials
Resting and Action Potentials

• Equilibrium is reached with a potential difference across the membrane,

negative on the inside and positive on the outside.
• This membrane potential is called the “Resting Potential” of the cell and
maintained until some kind of disturbance upset the equilibrium.
• Research provided the value ranging from -60 mV to -100 mV. A Cell in the
resting state is said to be polarized.
• When a section of a cell membrane is excited by the flow of ionic current or
by some form of externally applied energy,, the membrane allows some Na+
and try to reach some balance of potential inside and outside. Same time the
some K+ goes outside but not rapidly like sodium.
Resting and Action Potentials
• As a result, the cell has slightly
Positive potential on the inside Due
to the imbalance of the Potassium
ions.
• This potential is known as “action
Potential” and is approximately
+20 mV.
• A cell that has been excited and
that displays an action potential is
said to be depolarized and process
from resting to action potential is
called depolarization
Resting and Action Potentials
Stimulus:
– Mechanical
– Chemical
– Electrical
Resting and Action Potentials
Resting and Action Potentials

• The time scale depends on the cell producing the potential.

• In nerve and muscle cells, repolarization occur as spike around 1 msec total
duration. Heart muscle need 150 to 300 msec.
• Regardless of the method by which cell is excited or the intensity of the
stimulus, the action potential is always the same for any given cell. This is
known as the all-or-nothing law.
• The small period of time where the cell can not respond to any new stimulus is
known as a absolute refractory period, last for 1 msec in nerve cells.
• Following the absolute refractory period, there occurs a relative refractory
period, during which another action potential can be triggered but much
stronger stimulation is required.
Propagation of action potentials

• The rate at which an action potential moves down a fiber or is

propagate from cell to cell is called the propagation rate.
• In nerve fiber the propagation rate is also called the nerve conduction
rate, or conduction velocity. Velocity range in nerves is from 20 to 140
meters per second.
• In heart muscle, the rate is slower, average 0.2 to 0.4 m/sec
The Bioelectric Potentials

• The Electrocardiogram(ECG)
• The Electroencephalogram(EEG)
• The Electromyogram(EMG)
• The Electroretinogram(ERG)
• The Electro-oculogram(EOG)
• The Electrogastrogram(EGG)
The Bioelectric Potentials

• The Electrocardiogram(ECG)
• The bio-potentials generated by the muscles of the heart result in the
electrocardiogram(ECG). German word EKG
• To understand the ECG generation, Need to understand the anatomy of
the heart.
The Bioelectric Potentials
The Bioelectric Potentials
• Right atrium  tricuspid valve  right ventricle
• Right ventricle  pulmonary semilunar valve  pulmonary arteries
 lungs
• Lungs  pulmonary veins  left atrium
• Left atrium  bicuspid valve  left ventricle
• Left ventricle  aortic semilunar valve  aorta
• Aorta  systemic circulation
The Bioelectric Potentials
The Bioelectric Potentials

• Electrical activity is recorded by electrocardiogram (ECG)

• P wave corresponds to depolarization of SA node
• QRS complex corresponds to ventricular depolarization
• T wave corresponds to ventricular repolarization
• Atrial repolarization record is masked by the larger QRS complex
The Bioelectric Potentials

• The Electroencephalogram(EEG)
• The recorded representation of bioelectric potential by the neuronal activity
of the brain is called the electroencephalogram.
• The waveform varies greatly with the location of the measuring electrodes
on the surface of the scalp.
The Bioelectric Potentials
The Bioelectric Potentials
The Bioelectric Potentials
Electromyogram

• EMG: The bioelectric potentials associated with muscle activity

constitute the electromyogram.
• Can be measure on the surface of the body or by penetrating the skin
using needle electrodes.
The Bioelectric Potentials
• ERG: Eelctoretinogram: A record of the complex pattern of the bioelectric
potentials obtain from the retina of the eye. This is usually a response to a
visual stimulas.
• EOG: Electro-oculogram: A measure of the variation in the corneal-retinal
potential as affected by the position and movement of eye.
• EGG:Electrogastrogram: The EMG patterns associated with the peristaltic
movement of the gastrointestinal tract.