MBEYA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

COLLEGE: COSTE

DEPARTMENT: MEDICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

MODULE INSTRUCTOR; KIMONDO JOTHAM

MODULE NAME: PATIENT MONITOR

TASK: GROUP ASSIGNMENT

GROUP NO. 12

S/N NAME OF STUDENTS CA NO. NO

1. MARIA KISAKA CA/DBEE/21/5379 16
2. FIDEA GUMBWA CA/DBEE/21/1397 15
3 DORAH GUMBWA CA/DBEE/21/6575 07
4 ARAN SANABANGA CA/DBEE/21/5406 169
5 EBENEZER NNKO CA/DBEE/21/1424 19
6 JOSHUA JIMMY CA/DBEE/21/5392 20
7 JONATHAN STEVEN CA/DBEE/21/3727 14
8 ANETH KAMETA 20123150576 28
Signal averaging

is the technique used in evoked potential studies to extract the low amplitude
evoked response from noise. Signal averaging is used to resolved these low
amplitude potential running in the background of ongoing EEG and other
biological signals

Evoked potential

is the electrical signals produced by nervous system (brain and spinal cord) in
response to external stimulus. Evoked potential can be done to diagnose
neurological problem which multiple sclerosis (MS) and other conditions that can
cause person reactions to slow. Evoked potentials are detected by an electrode
which are positioned over the primary receiving area for the sensory modality, the
range of evoked potential amplitudes is from 0.1µV to 2µV

Purpose of signal averaging in evoked potential

Signal averaging allows us to uncover small amplitude signal in the noisy data

Noise in signal is any unwanted or unnecessary interference that devalue a

communication signal, it can interfere with both analog and digital signals, the
amount of noise necessary to affect a digital signal is much higher than in
analogy .

The following can be source of noise signal

(a) electromagnetic or electrostatic noise (usually hum from power lines) can be
a frustrating exercise.
(b) Generally, noise caused by a fluctuating magnetic field is relatively small.
(c) In addition to the noise added by passive components such as resistors,
active elements also add noise. Therefore the application of low-noise
amplifiers “early” in the chain (before major amplification steps) is desirable.
Typically an active component will add 1e100 mV of noise.
(d) The discretization error made at the ADC can also be considered a noise
source, the so-called quantization noise
THE PROCESSES OF SIGNAL AVERAGING AND HOW TO REDUCE
NOISE IN EVOKED POTENTIAL

The amplitude of the evoked nerve response is on the order of µV, while noise can
be on the order of mV. This technique assumes that noise is random and that the
evoked responses at the same location from identical stimulations are the same.
Instead of recording the nerve response from a single stimulus, multiple nerve
responses are recorded from repeating the same stimulation periodically over a
period of time. The response from each stimulus is stored and the average is
computed by an analog or digital computer. As all the nerve responses are the
same, averaging will produce the same response. However, averaging random
noise will reduce or eliminate the noise superimposing on the signal. In practice, an
evoked potential is acquired from averaging. by interfacing a signal averager with
a computer, it is possible to analyze large amounts of medical data from clinical
records to determine the statistical influence or significance of various parameters.
These results can be used to measure the effects of specific treatments and to
develop improved diagnostic procedures.

A basic requirement for signal averaging is that a time reference signal be made
available which bears a fixed relationship to the desired signal, but not to the noise.
This may be accomplished by using a synchronizing pulse (usually derived from
the physical parameter being measured) to identify each repetition of the waveform
segment to be examined. Thus, by time-locking the repetitive component to the
system trigger, it is possible to extract a coherent pattern, even if the spurious noise
is much greater in magnitude than the signal of interest. The overall result is a
substantial improvement in system sensitivity, dynamic range, resolution, and
accuracy.
Block diagram of typical measurement setup using signal averaging to optimize the
signal-to-noise ratio

The application of signal averaging is as follows

Signal-averaging equipment has found wide application in biomedical electronics

in which the analysis, diagnosis, and monitoring of physiological phenomena is
accomplished by the measurement of bio-electrically transduced potentials.

Using evoked response techniques, the cause-and-effect relationship between

various stimuli and the particular responses can be determined, even in cases where
the signals of interest are concealed in a blanket of spontaneous noise. Signal
recovery enables the researcher or clinician to study in detail the reaction of a
muscle to a nerve impulse, the events relating to the cardiac cycle, and the
response of the brain to such stimuli as sound, light, and touch. In all of these
electrophysiological measurements, the small electrical impulses associated with
each phenomenon can easily be separated from the inherently noisy environment.
Moreover,
Diagram showing basic elements of a digital averager

Noise is usually considered the “enemy,” preventing one from

measuring the signal reliably. Paradoxically, the averaging process, made
to reduce noise, may (in some cases) work better if noise is present. As we
will see in the following examples, this is especially true if the resolution
of the ADC is low relative to the noise amplitude. Let’s assume an extreme
example of a 1-bit ADC, i.e., there are only two levels: 0 or 1. Every time
the signal is >¼0, the ADC assigns a value of 1; every time the signal
is <0, the ADC assigns a 0. In this case a small deterministic signal
without added noise cannot be averaged or even measured because it
would result in the same uninformative series of 0s and 1s in each trial. If
we now add noise to the signal, the probability of finding a 1 or a 0 sample
is proportional to the signal’s amplitude at the time of each sample. By
adding the results of a number of trials, we now obtain a probabilistic
representation of the signal that can be normalized by the number of trials
to obtain an estimate of the signal ranging from 0 to 1.
References

 Antony Y.K.CHAN,Biomedical device technology-Principle and design