Topic 6 (Part 1)

The ICU: Electricity and Magnetism

( in the body )
 Introduction
• Monitoring the condition of a patient is one of
the duties of nurses.
• This means obtaining up to date information
of the condition of the patient, externally and
internally.
• The common conditions being monitored are
the temperature, pulse rate and respiration.
• These parameters can be easily determined
by recording/measuring using appropriate
tools.
 Introduction
• However, with the advancement of technology,
more complex body function can now be also
monitored.
• Most of these technologies depend on both
electricity and magnetism.
• Also, human body in itself uses electricity in doing
different functions. Some of these are contracting
of muscles and the beating of the heart.
• Hence, it is worth noting to discuss the science
behind the use of electricity and magnetism for
human body function, diagnosis and even
treatment.
• Discussing electricity and magnetism is
enjoyable when its foundation is fully grasp,
the atom.
• It is the smallest part of an element (such as
iron and oxygen) that cannot be reduced by
chemical process.
• The figure in the next slide displays a simple
model of an atomic structure whose average
diameter is 10-10 meters.
 Atomic Structure
electron (-)

NUCLEUS
-protons (+)
-neutrons

electron (-)

• Surrounding the nucleus are the fixed numbers of electrons

that move around to orbit at specific distance.
• The distance between the electrons and the nucleus is very
far compared with the size of an atom, just as the moon is
very far from the earth.
• The protons and the neutrons are of the same sizes which are
2,000 times larger than the electrons
• Atom is very very small. In fact, a tip of a ball
pen composes of millions of atoms.
• So, what hold atoms together? There is a force
that pulls the electrons and protons towards
each other called electrostatic force.
• Since the electrons are negatively charged and
the protons are positively charged, then they
attract each other causing the atoms to be
intact.
• The attraction between the electrons and the
protons is either a push or a pull, depending
on the charges present and the distance
between them.
• If the number of protons and the number of
electrons are equal, then it is neutral.
• More electrons means negatively charged and
more protons means positively charged.
• When an atom losses electron maybe because
of “rubbing off” or “stolen” by another atom,
then it is no longer neutral and is called ion.
(Read more on this topic).
 ICF and ECF
• In human body, the negative and positive
particles are separated by membrane.
• The intracellular fluid (ICF) compartment is the
system that includes all fluid enclosed in cells by
their plasma membranes is considered as
negatively charged with respect to ECF.
• Extracellular fluid (ECF) surrounds all cells in the
body which is considered as positively charged.
• The movement of these particles is the result of
the electrostatic attraction.
• However, at the end of such movements, the
charges resulted to be equal, implying that part
of the membrane to be electrically neutral under
normal circumstances.
 external pacemaker
• In the case of a heartbeat, which is the
contraction of heart muscles, it requires an
electrical stimulation.
• When the heartbeat is not normal, a cardiac
pacing called external pacemaker is to be
attached to control the heart beats.
• This technique of attaching external pacemaker is
to allow time to heal the minor ischaemic
damage so that the heart will beat to its normal
pattern and rhythm.
• How it works is beyond this presentation.
• What concerns this topic is how the electrostatic
force attracts called electricity, a small flowing
electric current.
 Current, Resistance and Voltage
• An electric current is the collection of charged
particles (ions or electrons) that move from one
place to another.
• The rate at which these particle moves, i.e.,
charged per unit time (seconds) is actually the
strength of the current I is expressed in amperes
(A).
• However, the particles do not move freely, there
are interferences called resistance R to their
movements.
• The resistance R is measured in ohms, .
• The energy (force) per charge that causes the
particles to move is called the voltage,V
expressed in volts.
 Ohm’s Law
• The relationship of these quantities, current I,
resistance R and the voltage V is given by
𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒,𝑉 𝑉
• 𝐶𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡, 𝐼 =  𝐼=
𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒,𝑅 𝑅
• in honor of the discoverer Georg Simon Ohm
the German scientist who published his paper
in 1827.
• The current, with the symbol I has a unit of
amp after the Frenchman Andre M. Ampere,
• while the force that causes the charge to flow
(some use E for electromotive force) has a unit
of volt after the Italian Alessandro Volta.
quantities and units in an
electrical circuit
 Electrical Circuit Terminologies
• Volts (V) – This is the electrical potential
difference between two points in a circuit. A
common dry cell battery has 1.5 V. However,
commercial vehicles use 12V. This can be
understood as the pressure to push electrons
in the conductor.
• Amperes (A) – This measures the amount of
electric charge flowing past a point in a circuit
in a given amount of time (commonly
abbreviated to 'Amps').
 Electrical Circuit Terminologies
• Ohms (R) - A measure of electrical resistance
to the flow of charge in a circuit. The symbol
of resistance ( in ohms ) is . The smaller the
resistance, the strong is the flow of electrical
charge.
• Watts (P) - This is the power, which measures
the rate at which an electrical circuit converts
electrical energy into another form. The
power (in watts) is determined using the
formula 𝑃 = 𝐸𝐼, where E is in voltage (drop),
I is in amphere (Amp or A)
 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
• This machine requires high currents for the
operation of electromagnets in order to make
high-resolution images of the human body.
• Nevertheless, it is worth discussing the basic
of the flowing of electrons called current
cause the energy that charges the particles
called voltage and the interferences of these
electron movements called resistance.
• This flow is presented in the next slide called
the electrical circuit.
 Electric Circuit Diagrams
• Current ,I
• Source,V Resitance, R

• Three fundamental parts:

• A power source ( a battery or generator) to drive
electrical current around the circuit
• A conductor ( a cable or wire ) to carry the current
around the circuit
• A load (a bulb, a heating element, a motor etc.) that
has resistance and converts the electrical energy into
another form (light, heat, kinetic etc.)
 Current
• There are two types of current; Direct Current
(DC) and Alternating Current (AC).
• Direct current means the flow of charge is in one
direction and the source (voltage level) is
constant.
• Some of the examples in direct current are the
dry battery cell use in flashlights, battery use in
watches and alarm clocks and the battery use in
automobile.
• Alternating Current (AC) on the other hand,
connotes the flow of charge is in both directions
and the voltage changes with time.
• An example of alternating current is current
produce from hydroelectric plant which is used
by most of the households.
 Current Flow
• Current flow is the movement of free
electrons within the conductor.
• Since electrons are negatively charged they
actually migrate towards the +ve terminal of
the battery when subject to a voltage
difference, so current flow is from -ve to +ve.
• Regardless of the flow, an electrical circuit is
complete if there are source (voltage ,in volts
V), current (in ampheres, A) and resistance (in
ohms, ).
 Example 1
• A nebulizer boasts of having a 15-Amp motor.
Determine its resistance when plugged into a
110-Volt outlet.
• Solution:
• The diagram
• I=15 Amp
• V= 110 V R=?
 Example 1
• Solution:
• The diagram
• I=15 Amp
• V= 110 V R=?

𝑉 𝐸
• From 𝐼= =
𝑅 𝑅
𝐸
• 𝑅 = 𝐼
, where E = electromotive force ( in volts)
110 𝑉
• = 15 𝐴𝑚𝑝
• 𝑅 = 7.3 
 Example 2
• Defibrillator machines are used to deliver an
electric shock to the human heart in order to
resuscitate an otherwise non-beating heart. It
is estimated that a current as low as 17 mA
through the heart is required to resuscitate.
Using 100,000 Ω as the overall resistance,
determine the output voltage required of a
defibrillating device.
• Solution: (next slide)
 Solution to example 2.
• I= 17 mA

• E=? R = 100,000

𝑉 𝐸
• From 𝐼= =
𝑅 𝑅
• 𝐸 = 𝐼𝑅 , where E = electromotive force
( in volts)
1𝐴
• 𝐸 = 17 𝑚𝐴 1 00,000 
1,000 𝑚𝐴
• 𝐸 = 1,700 𝑉
 Example 3
• A stun gun or TASER is designed to put out a
few seconds worth of electric pulses that
impress a voltage of about 1200 V across the
human body. This results in an average current
of approximately 3 mA into a human body.
Using these figures, estimate the resistance of
the human body.
• Note:
• A Taser (also spelled tazer) is a non-lethal electroshock weapon used to
incapacitate targets via shocks that temporarily impair the target's physical
function to a level that allows them to be approached and handled in an
unresisting and thus safe manner
 Solution to example 3
𝑉 𝐸
• From 𝐼= =
𝑅 𝑅
𝐸
• 𝑅 = , where E = electromotive force
𝐼
• ( in volts)
• I = is the current in Amphere
• (A or Amp)
1,200 𝑉 1,000 𝑚𝐴
• 𝑅=
3 𝑚𝐴 1𝐴
• 𝑅 = 400,000  or 4 x 105 