BME/EECS 458 - Biomedical Instrumentation & Design

Matt ODonnell
I.0

Introduction

What is a biomedical instrument? To many its an EKG machine, to others its a

chemical biosensor, and to some its a medical imaging system. There are a lot of
instruments that qualify as biomedical instruments. Current estimates of the worldwide
market in biomedical instruments is over $200 billion.
Even though there is a wide variety of instruments, almost all of them can be modeled
using the simple diagram below.

Biomedical Instrumentation System

S
E
N
S
E

A
C
T
U
A
T
E

Electronics
Interface

Computation

Tissue
Interface

All biomedical instruments must interface with biological materials. That interface can by
direct contact or by indirect contact (e.g., induced fields).
A sensor must:
detect biochemical, bioelectrical, or biophysical parameters
reproduce the physiologic time response of these parameters
provide a safe interface with biological materials

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An actuator must:
deliver external agents via direct or indirect contact
control biochemical, bioelectrical, or biophysical parameters
provide a safe interface with biologic materials
The electronics interface must:
match electrical characteristics of the sensor/actuator with computation unit
preserve signal to noise ratio of sensor
preserve efficiency of actuator
preserve bandwidth (i.e., time response) of sensor/actuator
provide a safe interface with the sensor/actuator
provide a safe interface with the computation unit
provide secondary signal processing functions for the system
The computation unit must:
provide primary user interface
provide primary control for the overall system
provide data storage for the system
provide primary signal processing functions for the system
maintain safe operation of the overall system
In this course we will study only sensing systems - this means the system front-end will
always be a sensing element. Other than this restriction, we will cover all aspects of
typical biomedical instrumentation systems. We will do them in the following order:
A. Basic Sensors and Principles - including biopotential electrodes
B. Electronic Interfacing - including system noise figure, system bandwidth, preamps, post-amps, instrumentation amps, A/D and D/A converters, aliasing, triggering and
signal averaging
C. Computation - including data capture and signal processing
D. Systems - complete system response using specific examples (electromyogram,
pressure sensors and blood pressure measurements, flow sensors and blood flow
measurements, and chemical biosensors)

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I.1

Types of Biomedical Instruments

Types of Biomedical Instrumentation Systems

Direct / Indirect

Invasive / Noninvasive

Contact / Remote

Sense / Actuate

Real-time / Static

Direct/Indirect - The sensing system measure a physiologic parameter directly, such as

the average volume blood flow in an artery, or measures a parameter related to the
physiologic parameter of interest (e.g., EKG recording at the body surface is related to
propagation of the action potential in the heart but is not a measurement of the
propagation waveform).
Invasive/Noninvasive - Direct electrical recording of the action potential in nerve fibers
using an implantable electrode system is an example of an invasive sensor. An imaging
system measuring blood flow dynamics in an artery (e.g., ultrasound color flow imaging
of the carotid artery) is an example of a noninvasive sensor.
Contact/Remote - A strain gauge sensor attached to a muscle fiber can record
deformations and forces in the muscle. An MRI or ultrasound imaging system can
measure internal deformations and forces without contacting the tissue.
Sense/Actuate - A sensor detects biochemical, bioelectrical, or biophysical parameters.
An actuator delivers external agents via direct or indirect contact and/or controls
biochemical, bioelectrical, or biophysical parameters. An automated insulin delivery
pump is an example of a direct, contact actuator. Noninvasive surgery with high intensity,
focused ultrasound (HIFU) is an example of a remote, noninvasive actuator.
Real-time/Static - Static instruments measure temporal averages of physiologic
parameters. Real-time instruments have a time response faster than or equal to the
physiologic time constants of the sensed parameter. For example a real-time, ultrasound
Doppler system can measure changes in arterial blood velocity over a cardiac cycle.
SEE CHAPTER 1 FIGURES FOR SYSTEM EXAMPLES

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I.2

General Instrument Performance Parameters

To compare different instruments, quantitative criteria are needed. Performance

parameters are usually subdivided into two classes based on the frequency of the input
signal. Static characteristics describe the performance for dc or very low frequency inputs.
The properties of the output for a wide range of constant inputs demonstrate the quality of
the measurement. Dynamic characteristics require a full differential equation description
of system performance - more on that in the next section. Complete characteristics are
usually approximated by the sum of static and dynamic characteristics. Some common
static performance parameters are listed below.
Accuracy
The accuracy of a single measured quantity is the difference between the true value
and the measured value divided by the true value :
Accuracy =

True - Measured
True

It is often quoted as percentage. Often the true value is unknown over all operating
conditions, so the true value is approximated with some standard.
Precision
The precision of a measurement expresses the number of distinguishable alternatives
from which a given result is selected. On most modern instrumentation systems the
precision is
ultimately determined by the analog to digital converter (A/D)
characteristics.
Resolution
The smallest quantity that can be measured with certainty is the resolution. Resolution
expresses the degree to which nearly equal values of a quantity can be discriminated.
Reproducibility
The ability of an instrument to give the same output for equal inputs applied over
some period of time is called reproducibility. Drift is the primary limit on reproducibility
- see below.
Sensitivity
Sensitivity describes changes in system output for a given change in a single input. It
is quantified by holding all inputs constant except one. This one input is varied

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incrementally over the normal operating range, producing a range of outputs needed to
compute the sensitivity.
Zero (Offset) Drift
Offset drift is one parameter determining reproducibility. It is measured by
monitoring the system output with no change in input. Any changes that occur are simply
result of system offset.
Sensitivity Drift
Sensitivity drift is the second primary contributor to irreproducibility. It causes error
proportional to the magnitude of the input. These drift parameters are summarized in a
typical sensor sensitivity curve below.

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Linearity
A linear system satisfies the condition:
If

x1 y1
x2 y2

then the system is linear if and only if:

ax1 + bx 2 ay1 + by 2
This is the simple expression of the superposition principle for a linear system. There are
many ways to express deviations from linearity for a practical system. For dynamic
systems, multitone tests are often used, where the magnitude of beat frequencies between
the individual tone frequencies can quantify the level of nonlinearity. For static systems,
independent nonlinearity measures as shown below are often used.

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Dynamic Range
The dynamic range defines the ratio between the maximum undistorted signal (i.e.,
maximum input signal satisfying the linearity specification for the sensor) and the
minimum detectable signal for a given set of operating conditions. Often the dynamic
range is quoted on a logarithmic scale (i.e., dB scale).
Input Impedance
The instantaneous rate at which energy is transferred by a system (i.e., the power) is
simply proportional to the product of an effort variable (e.g., voltage, pressure, force) with
a flow variable (current, flow, velocity). The generalized impedance, Z, is the ratio of the
phasor equivalent of the steady-state sinusoidal effort variable to the phasor equivalent of
the steady-state flow variable:
~
V
~
Z = ~
I
where the tilde denotes phasor variables (i.e., magnitude and phase). The phase is related
to the response lag of the system to a sinusoidal input - more about this for dynamic
systems.

I.3

General Dynamic Performance Parameters

Most biomedical instruments must process signals that change with time. The
dynamics of the measurement system, therefore, must be chosen to properly reproduce the
dynamics of the physiologic variables the system is sensing. In this course we will only
consider linear, time invariant systems unless otherwise explicitly noted. For such
systems, the dynamics can be fully described by simple differential equations of the form:
an

d n y(t)
dt n

+ ... + a1

dy(t)
d m y(t)
dx(t)
+ a 0 y(t) = b m
+ ... + b1
+ b 0 x(t)
m
dt
dt
dt

where x(t) is the input signal (usually the physiologic parameter of interest), y(t) is the
output signal (usually the electronic signal), and the as and bs are constants determined
by the physical characteristics of the sensor system. Most practical sensor front-ends are
described by differential equations of zero, first or second order (i.e., n=0,1,2), and
derivatives of the input are usually absent, so m=0.
Linear, time invariant systems are simply characterized by their response to sinusoidal
inputs of the form x(t) = A sin(t), where the output is a sinusoid at precisely the same
frequency of the form y(t) = B() sin(t + ()). This simple characteristics is captured
in the system transfer function, defined as function of angular frequency =2f :

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~
b ( j ) m + ... + b1 ( j ) + b 0
Y( )
~
H ( ) = ~
= m
X( )
a n ( j ) n + ... + a1 ( j ) + a 0
where j = (-1)1/2 and H() is written in complex notation, where the magnitude of H()
equals the ratio B()/A and the phase of H() represents the physical phase lag ().
Using the transfer function notation, the dynamic response of simple zero, first, and
second order systems are presented below.
Zero Order System
A linear potentiometer can be used to measure displacement and represents a simple
example of a zero order system. The differential equation describing its operation is:
a 0 y(t) = b 0 x(t)
and the transfer function is:
~
Y( )
b
~
H ( ) = ~
= 0 = K
X( )
a0
Note there is no phase lag between output and input at ALL frequencies. This means the
step response is instantaneous, as illustrated below.

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First Order System

If the instrument contains a single energy storage element, the a first order differential
equation describes system dynamics
a1

dy(t)
+ a 0 y(t) = b 0 x(t)
dt

with associate transfer function:

~
Y( )
K
~
H ( ) = ~
=
X( )
1 + j
where K=b0/a0 and =a1/a0. The RC low pass filter shown below is an example of a first
order system. Note the phase lag is a function of frequency and creates a delayed step
response. The system does not pass frequencies much greater than =1/. Consequently,
for a first order sensor system there should be no significant frequency components in the
physiologic input parameter greater than this cutoff frequency.

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Second Order System

A second order system has two levels of energy storage with dynamics described by
the differential equation
a2

d 2 y(t)
dt

+ a1

dy(t)
+ a 0 y(t) = b 0 x(t)
dt

with associate transfer function:

~
Y( )
K
~
H ( ) = ~
=
X( )
( j / n ) 2 + (2j / n ) + 1
where the static sensitivity is K=b0/a0, the undamped natural frequency is n = (a0/a2)1/2 ,
and the dimensionless damping ratio is =a1/(2(aoa2)1/2). A mechanical force-measuring
system shown below illustrates the properties of a second order system. Note the step
response for underdamped, critically damped, and overdamped cases. Again, significant
components in the input variable must be at frequencies less than natural frequency of the
second order system. In later sections we will see how the pre-amp, post-amp, digitization
system and digital signal processing system must be matched to the transfer
characteristics of the sensor element.

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