Sensors in biomedical applications

Citation

Harsányi, G. (2001), "Sensors in biomedical applications", Sensor Review, Vol. 21 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/sr.2001.08721daa.002

Sensors in biomedical applications

Sensors in biomedical applications

Gábor Harsányi

Keywords: Biotechnology, Biomedical, Sensors

In the twentieth century, technical and technological innovation has progressed at such an accelerated pace that it has permeated almost every field of our life. This is especially true in the field of medicine. With almost continual technological innovations driving medical care, engineering professionals have become intimately involved in many medical ventures. As a result, the discipline of biomedical engineering has emerged as an integrating medium for two dynamic professions: medicine and engineering. In the process, biomedical engineers have become actively involved in the design, development, and utilization of materials, devices, sensors, and techniques for clinical research, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of patients.

The field of biomedical engineering includes many new areas: biomechanics, biomaterials, physiological modelling, simulation and control, and more. One of the most important parts of biomedical engineering is that of biomedical sensors, which enable the detection of biologic events and their conversion to signals. Sensors convert one type of quantity, such as temperature, into an equivalent signal of another type of quantity, for example, an electrical or optical signal. Biomedical sensors take biomedical variables and usually convert them into an electrical or optical signal. As such, the biomedical sensor serves as an interface between a biological and an information system.

Currently, digital display thermometers, ear-thermometers, personal blood pressure meters, and home blood glucose monitors belong to our everyday life. Computer tomography and ultrasound echography represent well-known methods of modern diagnostic tools. It is less known that all these instruments would not be available without sophisticated sensor elements. The application of sensors in biomedical diagnostics and bioinstruments has brought such revolutionary changes that may already have a positive impact on the quality of life within the next century. Some key current and potential applications are listed here:

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  Sensors have enabled us to develop computer based medical imaging tools that could not be available without them, such as computer tomography, ultrasound echography, and many others.

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  Sensors may also bring a great development in conventional imaging tools, like X-ray photography, by getting more information with smaller radiation doses.

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  Portable multiparameter bedside monitoring appliances are available for intensive care.

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  Handy appliances are available on the market for personal and home monitoring or diagnostics.

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  There are already certain implantable self-regulatory appliances, currently only for a few particular applications, such as blood glucose monitoring and controlled insulin release. Their widespread application is prophesised for the near future.

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  Sensor based systems can replace the function of human sensing organs, like artificial retina, hearing aids, tactile sensing in artificial limbs, etc.

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  Rapid diagnostic tools have emerged recently based on immunosensors and DNA-chips.