TechBme

 An oxygen concentrator is a very important medical device used in hospitals especially in  intensive care units(ICUs) for supplying oxygen to  those  in need of oxygen. When the oxygen level of a patient has dropped considerably, an oxygen concentrator is required. Some of the common diseases that lead to a reduction in oxygen levels in patients include apnea, asthma and other respiratory illnesses.  Oxygen concentrators are often necessary in neonatal hospital wards as sick newborns especially preterm infants often need supplemental oxygen especially if they are suffering from health conditions like apnea of prematurity. Usually, pulse oximeters are often used to monitor their oxygen levels before delivering oxygen to the patient using oxygen concentrators. A typical oxygen concentrator can supply oxygen to one or more patients at the same time. It supplies oxygen to a patient either by intermittent pulse flow or through continuous flow. In newborns, the recommended amount of oxyge

Solomon C. Nwaneri, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Lagos. Newborns often suffer from a condition known as hypothermia. It is a condition in which the newborn loses a lot of heat and unable to control its temperature. Under normal conditions, the body temperature of the newborn should not be lower than 36.5 degrees centigrade. But when hypothermia occurs, the body temperature becomes lower.  Hypothermia affects preterm newborns, those with low birth weight. as well as those undergoing some procedures. Such newborns need a device  to keep them warm and prevent heat loss by radiation.  This is the main purpose of a radiant warmer. How does a radiant warmer keep a newborn warm you may ask? This is possible because the radiant warmer consists of an overhead heating element that produces the required heat to keep the baby warm and there is a heating probe as well. The baby is placed on a tray directly under the heating element at a given distance. You may also ask

Solomon C. Nwaneri, PhD,  Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Lagos.  E-mail: snwaneri@unilag.edu.ng A pulse oximeter is a medical device used to measure oxygen saturation (SpO2) in the blood. It is a non-invasive device. This means that the device does not penetrate or break into the skin. The blood needs a minimum amount of oxygen for the body to survive which is usually 95%. If the oxygen saturation is lower than the prescribed limits, a person is exposed to a condition referred to as hypoxemia .  Hypoxemia refers to oxygen levels that are lower than the normal saturation. This condition is characterized by shortness of breath and sometimes headache. Hypoxemia is usually caused by underlying diseases such as sleep apnea, lung diseases and several other possible causes. Oxygen should be in the haemoglobin of the blood known as oxyhaemoglobin(HbO2). Pulse oximeters operate based  on the absorption of different wavelengths of light. Usually, Red and infrared light are t

S.C. Nwaneri, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos. Neonatal incubators are designed to provide a controlled environment for preterm infants[1]. Preterm is a baby born before 37 weeks of pregnancy[2]. Preterm babies often suffer from hypothermia, a condition in which their body is unable to regulate temperature. The infant incubator ensures that the temperature, humidity and ventilation are suitable to support their lives in the first few weeks of life until they are capable of living without an incubator.     The infant incubator creates an environment that is similar to the mother's womb that makes it possible for the preterm baby to survive outside the mother's womb.  Important components in a typical incubator are: a heating element, temperature and humidity sensors, microcontrollers and a mattress. Some incubators also include a phototherapy device attached to them and placed at specific distance above the baby.  All neonat

  S.C. Nwaneri, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Lagos, Nigeria. E-mail : snwaneri@unilag.edu.ng Phototherapy machine is generally used to treat jaundice in newborns. Jaundice is caused by a high level of bilirubin (Hyperbilirubinemia) in the blood that makes the skin look yellowish. This is usually a common problem in newborns[1].   In many developing countries, neonatal jaundice remains a significant and challenging problem in newborns. If this condition is not properly treated, it could lead to brain damage.  To use a phototherapy unit, the light from the unit is used to irradiate the baby making use of  the blue region of the electromagnetic spectrum, usually in the range of 420-500 nm. When the light hits the baby's skin, the light oxidizes the bilirubin in the blood leading to the production of compounds that are removed as wastes from the body [2]. The lights are placed at specific distance above the infant usually 30 cm - 40cm.   Early phototherapy units

S.C. Nwaneri, Department of Biomedical Engineering University of Lagos, Nigeria. E-mail: snwaneri@unilag.edu.ng An ultrasound machine is a medical device that makes use of high frequency sound waves beyond the frequency  range that the normal human ears can hear to view the internal organs of humans. Ultrasound is also known as sonography. The normal frequency range that humans can hear is between 20 Hertz and 20 Kilohertz. An ultrasound machine operates with a frequency of 2 - 20 Mega Hertz. Ultrasound machine is non-invasive and does not make use of harmful ionizing radiation. So the machine is generally safe. USES OF ULTRASOUND MACHINE Have you ever been made to go through an ultrasound procedure?  Perhaps you or your loved one has been pregnant and needed to confirm the gender of your unborn baby. That is the most popular use of ultrasound machine. However, ultrasound machine is used for many other purposes. Ultrasound machine are generally used for obstetric and non-obstetric pu

Solomon C. Nwaneri, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Lagos.  E-mail: snwaneri@unilag.edu.ng Medical devices are invaluable to medical practice. The numerous innovations in the development of medical devices has led to significant improvement in healthcare services including diagnosis and treatment. Simple and complicated medical procedures are now performed across different hospitals globally leading to a decline in mortality and morbidity rates. These procedures cannot be done without the use of medical devices. Although, many medical devices are mostly used for disease diagnosis, others are used for therapeutic purposes as well to treat patients. The defibrillator is a typical therapeutic medical device which can be used to revive a person who suffers from a heart attack. While some medical devices are extremely cheap and affordable for example, an oral thermometer costs as low as $1. Some other medical devices are very expensive and unaffordable. For example

Solomon C. Nwaneri, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria. E-mail: snwaneri@unilag.edu.ng Health technologies are generally manufactured in the highly industrialized countries of the world. Most often, these technologies are often designed with existing realities in developed countries without due consideration to the peculiar realities of developed countries. Many developing countries are generally poor and lack the resources to provide basic and advanced health technologies in most of their hospitals. Most often, they rely on donations of obsolete and fairly used medical devices from developed countries. These medical devices may not be very suitable and workable in these resource poor countries. Most often these equipment easily fail and become unusable after a short while. Hence health technologies need to be appropriate, suitable and relevant to the local environment.  Appropriate Technologies as defined by th

Solomon C. Nwaneri, PhD, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Lagos, Nigeria. E-mail: snwaneri@unilag.edu.ng Biomedical instrumentation involves the use of measuring systems  to solve problems in humans and animals.  Humans and animals do get ill or sustain injury and need diagnosis and treatment. With the help of medical instrumentation systems, the presence of some physical quantity could be determined helping physicians to make better diagnostic decisions and judgement. In a world plagued by multifarious diseases, the benefits of biomedical instrumentation systems cannot be over-emphasized. Hence, it is imperative to have a good knowledge of how a measuring system works, as this knowledge is needed in the design and development of medical devices and equipment.  There are primarily five major components of medical instruments. They are: 1. Measurand   2. Sensor 3. Transducer 4. Signal conditioner 5. Display System THE MEASURAND  The measurand simply refers to the phys