BIOMEDICAL INSTRUMENTATION: AN OVERVIEW
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