Bio Measurements

Galileo Galilei
(1564-1642)
"If you can't measure it, you can't manage
it ®" - simple but true. It comes from a
remark attributed to GALILEO, who said
'Count what is countable, measure what is
measurable. What is not measurable,
make measurable."
 Measurement Objectives
• Biomedical engineers are interested in measuring
engineering parameters

• This must be done by conversion into quantities

easily recorded in data acquisition systems
• Voltage, current, resistance, frequency, time, etc.

• Through applications of the laws of physics

 Introduction
• Basically transducer is defined as a device, which
converts energy or information from one form to
another.
• These are widely used in measurement work
because not all quantities that need to be
measured can be displayed as easily as others.
• A better measurement of a quantity can usually be
made if it may be converted to another form, which
is more conveniently or accurately displayed.
 Introduction
• For example, the common mercury thermometer
converts variations in temperature into variations in
the length of a column of mercury. Since the
variation in the length of the mercury column is
rather simple to measure, the mercury thermometer
becomes a convenient device for measuring
temperature.
• Another example is manometer, which detects
pressure and indicates it directly on a scale calibrated
in actual units of pressure.
 Introduction
• Thus the transducer is a device, which provides a
usable output in response to specific input
measured, which may be physical or mechanical
quantity, property or condition. The transducer may
be mechanical, electrical, magnetic, optical,
chemical, acoustic, thermal nuclear, or a
combination of any two or more of these.
 Mechanical Transducers
• are simple and rugged in construction, cheaper in cost,
accurate and operate without external power supplies
but are not advantageous for many of the modern
scientific experiments and process control
instrumentation owing to their poor frequency response,
requirement of large forces to overcome mechanical
friction, in compatibility when remote control or
indication is required, and a lot of other limitations.
• All these drawbacks have been overcome with the
introduction of electrical transducers.
 Electrical Transducers
• Mostly quantities to be measured are non-electrical such
as temperature, pressure, displacement, humidity, fluid
flow, speed etc., but these quantities cannot be measured
directly. Hence such quantities are required to be sensed
and changed into some other form for easy measurement.
• Electrical quantities such as current, voltage, resistance.
inductance and capacitance etc. can be conveniently
measured, transferred and stored, and therefore, for
measurement of non-electrical quantities these are to be
converted into electrical quantities first and then
measured.
 Electrical Transducers
• The function of converting non-electrical quantity
into electrical one is accomplished by a device
called the electrical transducer. Basically an
electrical transducer is a sensing device by which a
physical, mechanical or optical quantity to be
measured is transformed directly, with a suitable
mechanism, into an electrical signal (current,
voltage or frequency). The production of these
signals is based upon electrical effects which may
be resistive, inductive, capacitive etc in nature.
 Electrical Transducers
• The input versus output energy relationship takes a
definite reproducible function. The output to input
and the output to time behavior is predictable to a
known degree of accuracy, sensitivity and response,
within the specified environmental conditions.
 Basic Requirements of aTransducer

• The main function of a transducer is to respond

only for the measurement under specified limits for
which it is designed. It is, therefore, necessary to
know the relationship between the input and
output quantities and it should be fixed.
Transducers should meet the following basic
requirements.
Basic Requirements of a Transducer

Ruggedness. It should be capable of withstanding

overload and some safety arrangement should be
provided for overload protection.
Linearity. Its input-output characteristics should be
linear and it should produce these characteristics in
symmetrical way.
Repeatability. It should reproduce same output signal
when the same input signal is applied again and again
under fixed environmental conditions e.g. temperature,
pressure, humidity etc.
 Basic Requirements of a Transducer

• High Output Signal Quality. The quality of output

signal should be good i.e. the ratio of the signal to
the noise should be high and the amplitude of the
output signal should be enough.
• High Reliability and Stability. It should give minimum
error in measurement for temperature variations,
vibrations and other various changes in surroundings.
• Good Dynamic Response. Its output should be
faithful to input when taken as a function of time.
The effect is analyzed as the frequency response.
 Basic Requirements of a Transducer

• No Hysteretic. It should not give any hysteretic

during measurement while input signal is varied
from its low value to high value and vice-versa.
• Residual Deformation. There should be no
deformation on removal of local after long period
of application.
 Classification Of Transducers
• The transducers may be classified in various ways
such as on the basis of electrical principles
involved, methods of application, methods of
energy conversion used, nature of output signal etc.
 Classification Of
Transducers(cont’d)
• Primary and Secondary Transducers:
• Transducers, on the basis of methods of
applications, may be classified into primary and
secondary transducers. When the input signal is
directly sensed by the transducer and physical
phenomenon is converted into the electrical form
directly then such a transducer is called the primary
transducer.
 Primary and Secondary Transducers

• For example a thermistor used for the measurement

of temperature fall in this category. The thermistor
senses the temperature directly and causes the
change in resistance with the change in temperature.
• When the input signal is sensed first by some detector
or sensor and then its output being of some form
other than input signals is given as input to a
transducer for conversion into electrical form, then
such a transducer falls in the category of secondary
transducers.
 Primary and Secondary Transducers
• For example, in case of pressure measurement,
bourdon tube is a primary sensor which converts
pressure first into displacement, and then the
displacement is converted into an output voltage by
an LVDT. In this case LVDT is secondary transducer.
 Active and Passive Transducers
• . Transducers, on the basis of methods of energy
conversion used, may be classified into active and
passive transducers. Self-generating type
transducers i.e. the transducers, which develop
their output the form of electrical voltage or current
without any auxiliary source, are called the active
transducers. Such transducers draw energy from
the system under measurement. Normal such
transducers give very small output and, therefore,
use of amplifier becomes essential.
 Active and Passive Transducers
• Transducers, in which electrical parameters i.e.
resistance, inductance or capacitance changes with the
change in input signal, are called the passive transducers.
These transducers require external power source for
energy conversion. In such transducer electrical
parameters i.e. resistance, inductance or capacitance
causes a change in voltages current or frequency of the
external power source. These transducers may draw sour
energy from the system under measurement. Resistive,
inductive and capacitive transducer falls in this category.
 Analog and Digital Transducers
• Transducers, on the basis of nature of output signal,
may be classified into analog and digital
transducers. Analog transducer converts input
signal into output signal, which is a continuous
function of time such as thermistor, strain gauge,
LVDT, thermo-couple etc. Digital transducer
converts input signal into the output signal of the
form of pulse e.g. it gives discrete output.
 Analog and Digital Transducers
• These transducers are becoming more and more
popular now-a-days because of advantages
associated with digital measuring instruments and
also due to the effect that digital signals can be
transmitted over a long distance without causing
much distortion due to amplitude variation and
phase shift. Sometimes an analog transducer
combined with an ADC (analog-digital convector) is
called a digital transducer.
Transducers and Inverse Transducers
• Transducer, as already defined, is a device that
converts a non-electrical quantity into an electrical
quantity.
• Normally a transducer and associated circuit has a
non-electrical input and an electrical output, for
example a thermo-couple, photoconductive cell,
pressure gauge, strain gauge etc.
• An inverse transducer is a device that converts an
electrical quantity into a non-electrical quantity. It is a
precision actuator having an electrical input and a low-
power non-electrical output.
 Transducers and Inverse Transducers

• For examples a piezoelectric crystal and transnational and

angular moving-coil elements can be employed as inverse
transducers.
• Many data-indicating and recording devices are basically
inverse transducers.
• A voltmeter converts electric current into mechanical
movement and the characteristics of such an instrument
placed at the output of a measuring system are important.
• A most useful application of inverse transducers is in
feedback measuring systems.
 Selection of Transducers
• In a measurement system the transducer (or a
combination of transducers) is the input element
with the critical function of transforming some
physical quantity to a proportional electrical signal.
• So selection of an appropriate transducer is most
important for having accurate results.
 Selection of Transducers

• The first step in the selection procedure is to clearly

define the nature of quantity under measurement
(measurand) and know the range of magnitudes and
frequencies that the measurand is expected to exhibit.
• Next step will be to examine the available transducer
principles for measurement of desired quantity.
• The type of transducer selected must be compatible
with the type and range of the quantity to be
measured and the output device.
 Selection of Transducers
The points to be considered in determining a transducer
suitable for a specific measurement are as follows:
 Range. The range of the transducer should be large enough to
encompass all the expected magnitudes of the measurand.
 Sensitivity. The transducer should give a sufficient output signal
per unit of measured input in order to yield meaningful data.
 Electrical Output Characteristics. The electrical characteristics-
the output im­pedance, the frequency response, and the response
time of the transducer output signal should be compatible with
the recording device and the rest of the measuring system
equipment.
 Selection of Transducers
• Physical Environment. The transducer selected
should be able to withstand the environmental
conditions to which it is likely to be subjected while
carrying out measurements and tests.
• Such parameters are temperature, acceleration,
shock and vibration, moisture, and corrosive
chemicals might damage some transducers but not
others.
 Selection of Transducers
• Errors. The errors inherent in the operation of the
transducer itself, or those errors caused by
environmental conditions of the measurement,
should be small enough or controllable enough that
they allow meaningful data to be taken.
• However the total measurement error in a
transducer-activated system may be reduced to fall
within the required accuracy range by adopting the
following techniques.
 Error
Calibrating the transducer output against some known standards
while in use under actual test conditions. This calibration should
be performed regularly as the measurement proceeds.
Continuous monitoring of variations in the environmental
conditions of the transducer and correcting the data accordingly.
Controlling the measurement environment artificially in order to
reduce possible transducer errors. Artificial environmental
control includes the enclosing of the transducer in a
temperature-controlled housing and isolating the device from
external shocks and vibrations.