Bioinstrumentation II
Lecture 1: Bioelectric Signal
Hundessa Daba
March 2020
Signal and Biosignal
• A signal is a phenomenon that conveys information.
• Biosignal: any signal measured and monitored from a biological being
• The complete process of information extraction may be as simple as a
physician estimating the patient’s mean heart rate by feeling, with the
fingertips, the blood pressure pulse or as complex as analyzing the
structure of internal soft tissues by means of a complex CT machine.
Origin of Bio(medical) Signals
1. Bioelectric signals. unique to biomedical systems.
- Generated Nerve cells and muscle cells.
- Source is the membrane potential which may be excited to generate an
Action potential.
2. Bioimpedance signals. The impedance of the tissue contains
important information concerning its
- Composition,
- Blood volume,
- Blood distribution,
- Endocrine activity,
- Automatic nervous system activity, and more.
…cont.
3. Bioacoustic signals. Many biomedical phenomena create acoustic noise.
The measurement of acoustic noise provides information about the underlying
phenomenon.
- The flow of blood in the heart, through the heart’s valves, or through blood vessels generates
typical acoustic noise.
4. Biomagnetic signals. Various organs, such as the brain, heart, and lungs, produce
extremely weak magnetic fields.
- The measurements of these fields provides information not included in other biosignals
…cont.
5. Biomechanical signals. Includes all signals originated from some
mechanical function of the biologic system.
- These signals include motion and displacement signals, pressure and
tension and flow signals, and others.
6. Biochemical signals. The result of chemical measurements from the
living tissue or from samples analyzed in the clinical laboratory.
- Examples: pO2 and pCO2 in the blood or respiratory system.
…cont.
7. Bio-optical signals. the result of optical functions of the biologic
system,
- Occurring naturally or induced by the measurement.
- Example: Blood oxygenation may be estimated by measuring the
transmitted and backscattered light from a tissue (in vivo and in vitro) in
several wavelengths.
Classification of Biosignal
• Non-electric Biosignal
– Vast majority of signal
– Transformation to electrical signal by suitable transducer
– Sensor is transducer
• Electrical Biosignal
– Action potential
– Electric current
– Sensor is electrode
Bioelectric Signals
• Electrical biosignals (bio-electrical signals) are the electrical
currents generated by electrical potential differences across a
tissue, organ or cell system like the nervous system
Origin of Bioelectric Signals
• Bioelectric potentials are produced as a result of electrochemical
activity of a certain class of cells, known as excitable cells, that
are components of nervous, muscular, or glandular tissue.
• Electrically they exhibit a resting potential and, when
appropriately stimulated it generates an action potential
Electrical activity of Excitable cells
1. The Resting State
The individual excitable cell maintains a steady electrical potential difference between its
internal and external environments.
This resting potential of the internal medium lies in the range - 40 to -90 mV, relative to
the external medium.
The membrane in the resting state is only slightly permeable to Na and rather freely
permeable to K and Cl
The active transport mechanism (sodium-potasium pump) balances the transport of ions
across the membrane(leaky capacitor)
Membrane is polarized due to steady resting potential
Electrical activity of Excitable cells
2. The Active State
An adequate stimulus is one that brings about the depolarization of a cell membrane that is
sufficient to exceed its threshold potential
The origin of the action potential lies in the voltage- and time-dependent nature of the
membrane permeability (conductivity) to specific ions, notably Na and K.
As the transmembrane potential (vm) is depolarized, the membrane permeability to
sodium Na is significantly increased.
As a result, Na ion rushes into the internal medium of the cell, bringing about further
depolarization
…cont.
Resting potential is usually -70mV
Application of stimulus raises membrane potential above threshold (-55mV)
Membrane potential reaches +40mV with in 1ms
The membrane potential then drops to -90mV before it comes to original resting state
Typical Bioelectric Signals
• Typical bio-electrical signals are
– ECG (Electrocardiogram)
– EMG (Electromyogram)
– EEG (Electroencephalogram)
– ERG (Electroretinogram)
– EOG (Electrooculogram)
– GSR (Galvanic skin response) and
– HRV (Heart rate variability)
ECG
• Mechanical work of the heart electrical activity
• picking up the potentials on the body surface.
• Source of potentials: individual muscle cells of the heart
• Acquisition: Surface Electrode
Electrical Behavior of Cardiac Cells
• The heart comprises several different
types of tissues (SA and AV nodal
tissue; atrial, Purkinje, and ventricular
tissue).
• They are all electrically excitable, and
each type of cell exhibits its own
characteristic action potential
ECG waveform
ElectroMyoGram (EMG)
• Measures electrical currents generated in muscles during its
contraction representing neuromuscular activities.
• Source of Action potential: Muscle activity
• Acquisition method: Surface electrode for surface EMG and
needle electrode for single fiber EMG
EMG Waveform
ElectoEncepaloGram (EEG)
• Electrical activity of brain from scalp
• Source: activity of cortical cells
• Acquisition: surface electrodes (Scalp electrodes)
EEG Waveforms
ElectroRetinoGram (ERG)
