Welcome to BMEN 321

Biomedical Electronics
Prof. Ken Meissner
Zachry 335O
458-0180

Course Info
Meet: 11:10am - 12:25pm in Jack E.
Brown Building, Room 108 (apparently
you know this since you are here)
Office Hours:
Tuesday/Thursday: 1:30pm 2:30pm
You are welcome to come in whenever the
door is open

Grading

Three Exams: 25% each

Quizzes: 15% (you will drop one quiz)
Homework: 10%
There are no pre-defined letter grade
boundaries. Letter grades will be
assigned at the end of the semester
based on the distribution of the total
scores.

Schedule/Class
See handout for detailed schedule
Each class will consist of 50-60 minutes of
lectureI get tired after that long
I will bring in some demos that relate to
the material presented in class

Course Objectives

Learn

Basic Circuit Analysis (review)

Biopotentials and Transducers
Computer Interface for Instrumentation
Operational Amplifiers
Op-Amp Circuits
Basic Filters
Op-Amp Filters
Basic electronic components

Diodes, Transistors

Lockin Detection

At the end of the course you should be able to design and

build basic electronic instrumentation for Medical use.

What is a Medical Instrument?

Definition: Device including
instrument, tool, machine or
implant for monitoring or
sensing, diagnostics, or
therapeutics or surgery

Types of Instruments:
Sensing/Monitoring
A device that measures physiological
parameter(s) such as pressure, flow,
pulse, analyte concentration, or
temperature
Examples
Thermometer
Blood Pressure
Pulse Oximeter
Glucose Monitor

Types of Instruments: Diagnostic

A device that gathers information
leading to the identification of a
disease or disorder
Examples
Imaging (X-Ray, CT, MRI, PET)
Chemical Analyzers (Clinical
Chemistry)
Optical Diagnostics DNA
MicroArrays

Types of Instruments: Therapeutic

A device that is used to treat a disease or
disorder.
Examples include:
Simple crutch
Drug delivery
Surgical Tools (scalpel, laser)
Orthopedic implants
Soft tissue implants
Pacemakers

Basic Generic Instrument

Sensing/
Monitoring
Biological
System

Transducer

Signal
Processor

Diagnosis

Therapeutics/
Surgery
Feedback

Transducer
Sensor plus pre-processing/
amplifier
Transform physiological signal into
a form that the signal processor
can read
Must have good sensitivity and
accuracy
Should have low noise and
sufficient dynamic range
Must be effective and stable
across entire physiological range
Sensor can range from nanoscale
structures to room-sized devices

Signal Processor
Can be as simple as driving a
needle meter or a level on a scale
OR as complex as a computer
reconstructing a three dimensional
image from thousands of pictures
The use of electronic signal
processors has enabled numerous
advances in the past four decades
Heavy duty mathematical
processing is becoming the norm

Feedback
Traditionally involved a
physician or therapist
observing the patient
More recently feedback
occurs in a closed loop
with sensor(s) and/or
monitor(s)
FDA is very careful to
maintain human
involvement in important
decision processes

Bottom Line
The fundamental purpose of a medical
instrument is to enhance the capabilities of
human beings to help themselves and
each other.

Historical Perspective: Use of Senses

Touch/Hearing used to
quantify temperature, pulse
rate, and heart beat as well as
therapy
Stethoscope invented in 1819
to enhance sounds (shown:
Cammann Stethoscope circa
1880)
Current research on use of
acoustic transducer for
stenosis diagnostics

Historical Perspective: Use of Senses

Sight used on both the inside
and outside of the body
Candles and magnifiers used
Ophthalmoscope used to probe
ears, eyes and nose
Endoscope probes deeper in
body where there is no light
Current developments include
the use of light outside the
visible spectrum for imaging

Historical Perspective: Use of Senses

Taste and Smell have been
used to diagnose body fluids
and wounds
Urine of diabetics tastes sweet
Clinical chemistry labs provide
sample analysis in hospitals
Current developments include
electronic nose/taste sensors
with arrays of individual sensors

Historical Perspective: 20th Century

1903 ECG heart
diagnostic
1924 EEG brain waves
1928 ESU cauterizing
scalpel
1928 Iron Lung
respiration assist
1936 Nuclear Medicine
1956 Defibrillation
1957 Pacemaker (1960
implantable)

1957 Ultrasound Imaging

(anatomical imaging)
1970 CT Scanner
(anatomical imaging)
1975 Inter aortic balloon
pump
1982 MRI (anatomical
imaging)
1984 Artificial Heart
1990s PET - use radio
isotopes (physiological
imaging)

Cambridge Electrocardiograph 1912

Torture or early medical
Device?????

Case Study: Smart Bed

Smart Bed Concept was Developed in Response to
The
the Need for Non-Intrusive Automated Monitoring of Patient
Movement and Vital Signs
long gauge length integrating fiber optic sensor is
Aintegrated
into a standard patient bed beneath the mattress.
Patient physical movement and movement due to
respiration
and heartbeat perturb the fiber.
Modulation of the optical signal due to the integrated
mechanical
perturbation of the fiber is processed to provide
the required information.

Sedentary Elderly Become Vulnerable to Extremely Painful

Conditions Due to Lack of Mobility
Sedentary patients in nursing
homes require assisted
movement to prevent the
occurrence of pressure induced
ulcers (bed sores). If patient
movement can be remotely
monitored, optimum schedules
for assisted movement can be
devised.
The potential market for such a
capability is in the multi-$B
range.

Statistical Mode (STM) Sensor

P(t)

speckle
pattern

processing

laser
diode

output(t)=

j |Ij(t)Ij(tt)|

|dP(t)/dt|
multimode
opticalfiber

digital
camera

P(t)isperturbationintegratedalongthefiberlength

W.B.Spillmanetal,Statisticalmodesensorfor
fiberopticvibrationsensingapplications,Applied
Optics28,No.15,pp.31663176,1989.

High Order Mode Excitation (HOME) Sensor

P(t)

outputP(t)

optical
source
highorder
modefilter

output
cone
multimode
opticalfiber

largeareadetector
interceptingunpopulated
modevolume

P(t)isperturbationintegratedalongthefiberlength

P.R.Herczfeldetal,Anembeddedfiberopticsensor
utilizingthemodalpowerdistributiontechnique,J.
Opt.Lett.15,No.21,pp.12421244,1990.

Rested Students.Happy Students

The STM Sensor Demonstrated the Ability to Detect Patient

Movement and Respiration Rate

The HOME Sensor Demonstrated the Ability to Detect

Patient Movement, Respiration Rate and Heart Rate

The System Uses Cost Effective Off-theShelf Hardware

nursewearingRFIDtag
STM
sensor

remoteunit
transmitscamera
frameandRFID#

dataisprocessedandactivityisloggedby
acentralcomputeratthenursesstation

Minimal Engineering Development was

Required to Create the Wireless System

Homework
Due Tuesday 9/5
Chapter 1: 2, 8, 23, 25
Use the web to investigate the history of a
medical instrument. BRIEFLY summarize
the history.