Instrumentation and Acquisition

of Biosignals
MEBiom, 1st year, 3rd Period (P3)
(ECTS: 6.0), 2024/2025
Department of Bioengineering
Instituto Superior Técnico / University of Lisbon
 perceivable, the previous scheme was added for a better understanding.

Summary

Presentation of the course

Assessment methods
Bibliography

Introduction and motivation

Examples of previous projects

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025 Figure 11 - Actual prototype aspect
Presentation
Main Objectives
• Principles of sensors and transducers and of acquisition and processing of biomedical signals

• Electronic circuits involved in biosignal acquisition and conditioning

Analog electronics

• Laboratory experience on electronics of biomedical signal acquisition (physiological and behavioral)

• Embedded systems (Arduino) - Hardware and Software

• Design and implementation of (biomedical) signal acquisition systems with embedded systems

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Goals
At the end of this course the students should be able to:
• Understand the basics and the physics of Sensors and Transducers (Chapter 1).

• Understand simple electronic circuits involving linear passive (RLC) and active (OpAmp) components for signal
amplification, conditioning and filtering (Chapter 2).

• Understand the basic blocks and tools for acquisition and digital conversation of analog signals (using the
Arduino embedded system) (Chapter 3).

• Design, implement and test simple circuits to measure and control directly or indirectly physical or biological
variables.

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico,

2024/2025
Organization
Faculties
• Prof. João Sanches (IST) - Coordinator

• Prof. Dr. Luís Rosário (FM)

• Prof. Hugo Plácido da Silva (IST)

Teaching Assistants
• BSc Mariana Nunes (IST)

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Shifts
2 weekly theoretical sessions (2h each)
• Monday 2.30PM - 4:30PM

• Friday 10:00AM - 12:00PM

2 weekly laboratory sessions (1h30m each)

• Tuesday 9.00AM - 12:00PM

• Tuesday 12.00PM - 13:30PM + Thursday 12:00PM - 13.30PM

• Thursday 14.30PM - 16:00PM + Friday 14.30PM - 16:00PM

This week there are no labs!

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Syllabus
1. Introduction to Biomedical Signals, Instrumentation and Devices (Chapter 1)

2. Fundamentals of Electronic Circuits, Laplace and Fourier transforms

3. Embedded Systems, Arduino: Main Features and Programing

4. Signal conditioning and filtering (Chapter 3)

5. Signal Amplification (Chapter 3)

6. Data Acquisition and Signal Processing (Chapter 4)

7. Sensors and Transducers (Chapter 2) and Actuators

8. Analog to Digital Converters (ADC) and Digital to Analog Converters (DAC)

9. Digital Signal Processing

10. Typical circuits for signal acquisition and processing

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Assessment
The assessment of the discipline is performed in three components: 1) Theoretical (30%), 2) Laboratories (20%), and 3) Project (50%)

1. The theoretical component is assessed by exam (30%).

2. Four (4) laboratory sessions are guided works exploring basic circuits of signal acquisition, amplification, and conditioning .
These sessions are important for the project.

3. The grade for each lab is Pass/Fail. Each attendance and participation in session activities is worth 5% (1 point) of the final
grade.

4. Two (2) laboratory sessions are dedicated to support the implementation of a project of signal acquisition and processing, ba sed
on the circuits tested in the first sessions. The project (50%) will be delivered in the beginning of the last week.

5. The grading of the Project will be obtained based on the evaluation of a report (max. 10 pages in IEEE Transactions format), an
oral presentation, and a functional prototype.

The project presentation will be scheduled for the last week

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Project Deliverables
• Final Report (maximum 8 pp IEEE Trans. format)

– Introduction • Each group ideally has two (2) elements

– Problem Statement
– Background
– Implementation Details • At week two (2) the groups should deliver a
– Experimental Results project proposal (1 pg. IEEE Trans. format)
– Discussion and Conclusions
– References

• Prototype System

• Video Demonstration

• Presentation

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico,

2024/2025
Project report

Report 8 pp max
Format/Graphical issues Quality of the format, of the figures and tables of the document 5%
Title, authors and Abstract Title, authors and short abstract 5% 0.5
Introduction and problem statement Motivation and relevance of the problem 5% 1.0
Background Summary of the problem fundamentals and context 10% 1.0
Implementation details Technical description of the proposed system 20% 2.0
Experimental results Description of the validation and testing procedures used in the work 15% 2.0
Discussion and Conclusions Summary description and discussion of the main findings 5% 1.0
References List of the state-of-the-art references 5% 0.5
Presentation 5 minutes presentation and questions in a total of 15 minutes 30%

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Exam Example

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Bibliography

Principles of Biomedical Instrumentation Beginning

Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering Arduino Programming
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Brian Evens
Andrew G. Web
Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025
Break
 https://www.oiml.org/en/files/pdf_v/v002-200-e07.pdf

Metrology Principles
• Quantity (or Measurand): “Property of a phenomenon, body, or substance, where the property
has a magnitude that can be expressed as a number and a reference”

• Measurement: “Process of experimentally obtaining one or more quantity values that can
reasonably be attributed to a quantity”

• Measuring Instrument: “Device used for making measurements, alone or in conjunction with
one or more supplementary devices”

• Measuring System: “Set of one or more measuring instruments and often other devices,
including any reagent and supply, assembled and adapted to give information used to generate
measured quantity values within specified intervals for quantities of specified kinds”

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Common Sensors and Transducers

(*)

Bio-chemical and
electrical signaling

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Transducers
• Energy conversion: (e.g. something to voltage)
(aka generators – energy conversion)

• Electromagnetic (EM field )

• Piezoelectric (force)
Peltier

• Photovoltaic (light)

• Thermoelectric (temperature)
Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025
Transducers
Capacitive

• Property conversion
(aka non generating – require external energy)

• Capacitive
• Inductive
• Resistive
• Photoconductive
• Deformation

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

 Transducer Features
• Mechanical (solid) • Mechanical (liquid) • Biologic • Acoustic

– Organic compounds – Sound

• Velocity • Pressure
– Ultrasound
• Acceleration • Density • Optical – Doppler
• Position • Flux
• Force • Viscosity – Light intensity • Thermic
• Torque – Spectrum
• Mechanical stress – Temperature
• Radiation – Heat flux

– X-ray
– Radioactivity

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Physiological Phenomena
What is physiology? “Physiology is the science of life. It is the branch of
biology that aims to understand the mechanisms of living
things, from the basis of cell function at the ionic and
molecular level to the integrated behaviour of the whole
body and the influence of the external environment.
Research in physiology helps us to understand how the
body works in health and how it responds and adapts to
the challenges of everyday life; it also helps us to
determine what goes wrong in disease, facilitating the
development of new treatments and guidelines for
maintaining human and animal health. The emphasis on
integrating molecular, cellular, systems and whole body
function is what distinguishes physiology from the other
life sciences.”

https://www.physoc.org/explore-physiology/what-is-physiology/

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Behavior, a window to the CNS
Direct
• CNS
• Electroenceph alograp hy (EE G)
• Functio nal MRI ( fMRI)
Neurology
• Near-InfraRed Spe ctroscopy (NIRS ) Neurosciences

• PNS
• Electromyograph y (EMG)
• Electrooculogr aphy ( EOG)

• ANS
• Electrocardiog raphy (ECG)
• Electroder ma l Activity (E DA)

• Beh avio ral and Co gnition

• Activity
• Qu estionn aires
Psychology
• Social activity and intera ctions Psychiatry

Indirect
Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025
Physiological Phenomena
• Bioelectrical: Because living cells, tissues and organs produce electrical or
electromagnetic fields (e.g. cellular action potentials)

• Biomechanical: Because living cells, tissues and organs produce and are
subjected to forces or displacement (e.g. respiratory cycles)

• Biochemical: Because living cells, tissues and organs produce, react and
abundantly use chemical compounds (e.g. neurotransmitters)

• Biophysical: Because living cells, tissues and organs are composed by organised
arrangements of molecules (e.g. DNA)

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Common Physiological Quantities
John G. Webster, Medical Instrumentation: Application and Design, Wiley, 2009

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Common Physiological Quantities
John G. Webster, Medical Instrumentation: Application and Design, Wiley, 2009

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Common Physiological Quantities
John G. Webster, Medical Instrumentation: Application and Design, Wiley, 2009

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Examples of Past Projects
Fatigue Resistance Test Based on
Grip Strength

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Hearing Aid for Age-Related
Hearing Loss

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Muscle Signals as an Application
Controller

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

Assessment of Head Accelerations to
Predict Concussions

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025

 Arduino board (Fig. 11)

Figure 7. Initial configuration of the sensor.

PHOTOPLETHYSMOGRAPHY (PPG)
This sensor presented several limitations that led to its substitution. Firstly, it
ked mechanical stability, since the position of the LEDs was changed when the
gertip was placed between them, compromising their alignment and, therefore, the
signal acquisition. The analog signal had a greater amplitude and a more defined PHOTOPLETHYSMOGRAPHY (PPG)
veform if the two LEDs were compressed against the fingertipPHOTOPLETHYSMOGRAPHY
during the acquisition. (PPG)
wever, this compression induced other problems, not only because it affected the
gnment of the LEDs, but also because the contact with the LEDs Figure 21. Themotion
induced montageandof the circuit on the bread board and the output connection to Arduino board. Afterwards, a
green led was placed in order to blink everything the heart rate was between a favorable range of values (60-100 Hz).
ysiological artifacts (namely due to the presence of another biosignal when the LEDs
re compressed using the fingertips of the other hand). In addition, the need to compress
LEDs would make the sensor user-dependent and unable accurate comparisons of the
ults obtained for different individuals. Finally, our group verified that theThe datasignal
analog from the analog input was sent serially to the PC and was plotted using
the Arduino tool
ained with this sensor was significantly affected by the interference of the 50Hz power Serial Plotter. To guarantee that the same analog signal was correctly
visualized in Arduino,
e. This artifact was intensified by the illumination of the laboratory, whose light was the oscilloscope was used as a control (Fig.12).
o received by the LED.

Joana Carmona, nr.78743

Joana Carmona, nr.78743
[email protected]
[email protected]

Ana Carolina Silva, nr.79093

Ana Carolina Silva, nr.79093
[email protected]
[email protected]
Figure 8. Oxytip sensor used in the final configuration of the system. Figure 12. The output signal from the analogic circuit seen in the oscilloscope

8
Figure 13 shows the signal from the analog circuit, represented in blue, and the Lisbon, June 2017
output of the Lisbon,
filteringJune
step2017
with a fourth order Butterworth low-pass filter with a cut-off
Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico,
frequency2024/2025
of 25Hz, represented in red. Even though the filtered signal had a lower
amplitude, almost all the noise associated with the power line (f=50 Hz) was successful
 Signal Acquisition Instrumentation in
Bioengineering

ntegrated Electrocardiography (ECG)

and amplitude scales, it was possible to visualize the amplified and filtered biosignal.
Although this signal is not perfect, we can easily distinguish the QRS complex, which
Master’s in Biomedical Engineering
represents the most intense part of the signal; although Introduction
2nd noise,
mentioned 50Hz Semester
the most2016/17
it is still visible some of the
part of it was filtered with Inthe
the analog
framework low-pass
of biomedical filter of the analysis of the electrocardiogram
engineering,
the circuit. (ECG) is one of the most widely studied topics. The easy recording and visual
interpretation of the non-invasive electrocardiogram signal is a powerful way for
medical professionals to extract important information about the clinicalFigure 10 –ofSchematic prototype representation
condition
their patients.
The ECG is a measure of the electrical activity associated with the heart. It is
characterized by a time-variant cyclic occurrence of patterns with different frequency
Real Prototype
Electrocardiography (ECG) content (QRS complexes, P, and T waves). The P wave corresponds to the contractionof
the atria, the QRS complex to the contraction of the ventricles and the T wave to their
The actual board, with all the circuitry, is represented in Fig. 11. Because it is reasonably less
repolarization. Because the ventricles contain more muscle mass than the atria, the QRS
complex is more intensive than que P wave. The QRS wave is therefore the most
perceivable, the previous scheme was added for a better understanding.
representative feature of the ECG. Furthermore, once the QRS complex has been
identified, other features of interest can be more easily detected.[1]
Marc Golub, nº76084
Joana Moreira, nº79143

hes – IST
io – FMUL INSTRUMENTATION AND SIGNAL ACQUISITION IN BIOENGINEERING
FINAL PROJECT
Fig. 1 – Heart chambers and tissues associated to electrical heart LISBON, PORTUGAL, JUNE 17, 2017
activity. [2]

Portable Electrocardiograph (ECG)

Fig. 2 – The origin of the different waves on the ECG.[3]

The aim of this project was to build a simple analog circuit capableof non-invasively
recording the ECG of healthy subjects and analyze its output with a micro-processor.
1
For that, an experimental protocol was designed to illustrate the system working and GONÇALO FRAZÃO
Figure 11 & LUÍS
- Actual prototype RITA2
aspect
9
some tests were performed in order to validate it.

1
78136, [email protected]
Fig. 16 and
Instrumentation – Oscilloscope
Acquisitionscreenofdisplaying the measured
Biosignals, signal. 2024/2025
DBE/Técnico,
2
78680, [email protected]
Characterization of Gait Analysis

Figure 7: Sensor mount ed on t he body during t he gait analysis and t he reference axis considered.

Instrumentation and Acquisition of Biosignals, DBE/Técnico, 2024/2025