Biomedical Sensors and Smart Sensing: A Beginner's Guide

By Ayan Kumar Panja, Amartya Mukherjee and Nilanjan Dey

Biomedical Sensors and Smart Sensing: A Beginner’s Guide, a book in the 10-volume Primers in Biomedical Imaging Devices and Systems series, covers a wide range of interdisciplinary applications in imaging modalities, nuclear medicine, computed tomographic systems, x-ray systems, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound, and virtual reality.  The series explores the essential fundamental techniques required to analyze and process signals and images for diagnosis, scientific discovery and medical applications. Volumes in this series cover a wide range of interdisciplinary areas, combining foundational content with practical case studies to demonstrate the applications of these technologies in real-world situations.

In addition, the 10-volume series considers various medical devices, electronics, circuits, sensors and algorithms. Several applications ranging from basic biological science to clinical practice are included to facilitate ongoing research.

• Covers a variety of sensing and signal processing techniques
• Introduces different approaches relating to communication and intelligent data processing for early detection and prediction of diseases
• Includes practical case studies

• Language: English
• Publisher: Academic Press
• Release date: Jun 2, 2022
• ISBN: 9780128230732

Ayan Kumar Panja

Ayan Kumar Panja is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at Institute of Engineering & Management in Kolkata, India. He has done his Bachelor of Computer Science from University of Calcutta, M.Sc. in Computer Science from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata and Master of Technology from University of Calcutta. His primary research interest includes Localization, Sensor Network & Sensor Cloud Architecture, and Machine Learning. He has written papers and a book in the field of Data Gathering, Load Balancing in Sensor Cloud.He is the organizing committee member of several international conferences and played active role as the co-convenors of the conferences.

Book preview

Chapter 1: Introduction

Abstract

A collection of more than one entity that interacts and communicates following a set of the procedure is defined as a system. The objective of any system is to travel from one state to another based on some input and as the system progresses from one state to another it may or may not produce some output. With the relentless pursuit for knowledge and with the exponential growth in the field of technology, scientists all around the world have made massive progress in the domain of Biomedical and Cyber-physical systems. The chapter discusses the various properties and ranges of biomedical sensors, shedding light on the sensor's sensitivity, errors, and signal measurements.

Keywords

Biomedical system; Biomedical sensors; Biopotential; Signal; Monitoring; Biosensors

Contents

1.1Biomedical sensors and system overview

1.2Physical characteristics

1.2.1Magnetic sensing

1.2.2Electrical sensing

1.2.3Acoustic sensing

1.3System and signal

1.3.1Measurement

1.3.2Biopotentials

1.4Sensor characteristics

1.4.1Sensitivity of the sensor

1.4.2Linearity

1.4.3Sensing errors

1.5Biopotential signal monitoring and biosensors

1.6Conclusion

References

1.1: Biomedical sensors and system overview

The sensors form the core part of the biomedical systems [1]. A simple example of a biomedical system will be a digital thermometer, measuring the temperature of an individual and processing it digitally. The duty of any biomedical sensor is not just sensing but also converting the biological raw data into digital signals. Hence unlike normal sensors, the biomedical sensor itself is the interface between a living entity and the digital processing system. In general, if we classify sensors, we have physical sensors, chemical sensors, biosensors, etc. The biomedical sensor is the agglomeration of all the above-mentioned types providing a plethora of sensing applications.

To have quantified measurements physical sensors like piezo-electric sensors, temperature sensors, photoelectric sensors, acoustic sensors, etc. are widely used. Chemical sensors measure values about objects that are more of chemical nature like humidity sensors, various electrodes, optical gas sensors, etc. Biosensors, on the other hand, are a combination of both physical and chemical sensing together, some of the examples are gravimetric sensors, pyroelectric sensors, optical photoelectric sensors. Biomedical measurement [2] is a guiding technology [3] in the collection and processing of information about the medical domain and is directly related to the research of biomedical sensing technology, biomedical measurement methods, and electrical-electronics measuring systems. Therefore the research carried out in biomedical measurement has a direct effect on the design and application of sensors and medical instruments. An overview of a biomedical system can be a simple pressure sensor for blood pressure measurement, electrocardiogram (ECG) [4], electromyography (EMG), photoplethysmography (PPG), etc. There are various systems that can also detect molecules, enzymes, and measure many such biological fluids paving the way to a complicated diagnosis of various diseases (Fig.