ECE 3027 - Bio signal Processing

Module 1
 SIGNALS
Signal
– Conveys information
– Function of time
– The way it evolves in time is what encodes the
information

Examples
– Voltage or current in an electronic circuit
– Speech and music
– Bioelectric signals (e.g. ECG)
• Signal processing is concerned with the
representation, transformation, and manipulation
of signals and the information they contain.
• Continuous-time signal processing time and
signal are continuous
• Discrete-time signal processing time is discrete,
signal is continuous
• Digital signal processing time and signal are
discrete
 Continuous time signal
• Signal that has a value for all points in time
• Function of time
– Written as x(t) because the signal “x” is a function of time
• Commonly found in the physical world
– ex. Human speech
• Displayed graphically as a line
x(t)

t
 Discrete time signal
• Signal that has a value for only specific points in time
• Typically formed by “sampling” a continuous-time signal
– Taking the value of the original waveform at specific intervals
in time
• Function of the sample value, n
– Write as x[n]
– Often called a sequence
• Commonly found in the digital world
– ex. mp3
• Displayed graphically as individual values
– Called a “stem” plot x[n]

• Discrete-Time ≠ Digital

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 n
Analog and Digital signals
 Signal
• A signal is a physical variable whose value varies with time
• Value of signal is available over a continuous of time -
continuous time or analog signal
– Ex: temperature, voltage, current , etc
• Value of signal is available only at discrete instants of time -
discrete time signal
– Ex: economic data
• A signal in mathematical terms is a function
• A function is a dependent variable of some variables which
are independent variables
• Signals are detectable quantities used to convey information
about time-varying physical phenomena
 Classification of Signals (Waveforms)
• Deterministic Signals Can be modeled as a completely specified
function of time
– Periodic - Sinusoidal & complex and non periodic - Almost
periodic &transient
• Random or Stochastic Signals Cannot be completely specified as a
function of time; must be modeled probabilistically
– Stationary and non stationary

• Based on independent variable

– a. continuous (speech signal) b. discrete (music stored in CD
ROM)
• No of independent variable
– One dimensional (speech signal), 2 dimensional (photographs)
and multi dimensional (video)
 Deterministic and Random signals

may be accurately described mathematically, Usually predictable

defined by their statistical properties

• Stationary signal (statistical properties do not change with time)
– All frequency components exist at all time
• Non-stationary signal (Statistical properties change during
time)
– Frequency components do not exist at all time
 Bio signal characteristics
• Permanent Biosignals - kind of Biosignals exist without any
excitation from outside body and are always present in the
Human Body - source is inside the body
– Ex: electrocardiographic signal (ECG) induced by electrical heart muscle
excitation with the peaks P-Q-R-T-S
• Induced Biosignals - includes biosignals that are artificially
induced - exist only during the excitation
– Ex: electric Plethysmography - an artificial current is induced in the
tissue
• Static Biosignals - carry information during their steady-state
lever which may show slow changes over the time
– Ex: body temperature - which shows slightly changes during the day
• Dynamic biosignals - show big changes during time
– Ex: heart rate - course of the heart rate represents a highly dynamic
 Bio signals
• All real (bio)signals may be considered stochastic
• almost deterministic signals (e.g. ECG): wave
shapes that (almost) repeat themselves →
characterization (often) by detection of certain
measures or waves

• “truly” stochastic (e.g. EEG) → characterization by

statistical properties
Biomedical signals differ from other signals only in terms of the
application - signals that are used in the biomedical field

Bioelectric signals:
Generated by nerves cells and muscle cells. Single cell
measurements (microelectrodes measure action potential) and
‘gross’ measurements (surface electrodes measure action of many
cells in the vicinity)

Biomagnetic signals:
Brain, heart, lungs produce extremely weak magnetic fields, this
contains additional information to that obtained from bioelectric
signals. Can be measured using SQUIDs.

Bioimpedance signals:
Tissue impedance reveals info about tissue composition, blood
volume and distribution and more. Usually two electrodes to inject
current and two to measure voltage drop
Bioacoustic signals:
Many phenomena create acoustic noise. For example, flow of blood
through the heart, its valves, or vessels and flow of air through upper and
lower airways and lungs, but also digestive tract, joints and contraction of
muscles. Record using microphones.

Biomechanical signals:
Motion and displacement signals, pressure, tension and flow signals. A
variety of measurements (not always simple, often invasive measurements
are needed).

Biochemical signals:
Chemical measurements from living tissue or samples analyzed in a
laboratory. For examples, ion concentrations or partial pressures (pO2 or
pCO2) in blood. (low frequency signals, often actually DC signals)

Biooptical signals:
Blood oxygenation by measuring transmitted and backscattered light from
a tissue, estimation of heart output by dye dilution. Fiberoptic technology.
Four stages of bio signal processing
Types of biological signals
 Sampling of signals
• Without exception, all biosignals are analog signals. Processing of
biosignals by computers therefore requires discretization (i.e.,
sampling and quantification).
• sampling theorem: states that a signal must be sampled at a rate at
least twice the rate of the highest-frequency
• If we use a sampling rate that is too low, the signal is distorted. If we
obey the sampling theorem, the complete syntactic information
content of the signal is retained.
• An EEG usually contains statistical, more or less sine wave-shaped
fluctuations that may occur at a rate of up to 30 times/second. This
can also be expressed by saying that the EEG contains frequencies
up to 30 Hz.
• The sampling theorem then prescribes that we should sample the
EEG at least at 2 x 30 = 60 Hz to keep all signal properties.
 Sampling theorem
• original signal can be reconstructed from its samples
without any loss of information
• A sampling frequency fs of twice the highest frequency
present in a signal is called the Nyquist frequency

(a) Spectrum of
original signal.
(b) Spectrum of
sampling function.
(c) Spectrum of
sampled signal
with fs > 2fc
 Biomedical signals
• Electroencephalogram (EEG)
Frequency range: dc–100 Hz (0.5–60 Hz)
Signal range: 15–100 mV
• Electromyogram (EMG)
Frequency range: 10–200 Hz
Signal range: function of muscle activity and electrode placement
• Electrocardiogram (ECG)
Frequency range: 0.05–100 Hz
Signal range: 10 μV(fetal), 5 mV(adult)
• Heart rate
Frequency range: 45–200 beats/min
• Blood pressure
Frequency range: dc–200 Hz (dc–60 Hz)
Signal range: 40–300 mm Hg (arterial); 0–15 mm Hg (venous)
• Breathing rate
Frequency range: 12–40 breaths/min
Signal conversion
Digital to analog Conversion
 Sample and hold circuit

• Conversion from an analog signal to a digital signal takes some

finite amount of time
• It is advantageous to hold the analog signal at a constant value
during this conversion time.
Sample-and-hold circuit
can be used to sample the analog signal and freeze its value
while the A/D conversion takes place
 Time domain analysis
• Time domain and frequency domain are two ways of looking at
the same dynamic system

• They are interchangeable, i.e., no information is lost in changing

from one domain to another

• They are complementary points of view that lead to a complete,

clear understanding of the behaviour of a dynamic engineering
system

• In time domain we measure how long something takes, whereas

in the frequency domain we measure how fast or slow it is

• We describe what happens in the time domain as temporal and

in the frequency domain as spectral
Noises Random, structured and physiological
interference
• Random noise refers to an interference that arises from a
random process such as thermal noise in electronic devices

• A random process is characterized by the probability density

function (PDF) representing the probabilities of occurrence of
all possible values of a random variable

• One dimensional distributions

– First order moment (Mean)
– Second order moment (Variance)
• Two dimensional distributions
– Second order moment (E[x y])
– Cross correlation and auto correlation
– Convolution
• Structured noise: Power-line interference at 50 Hz or 60 Hz is
an example of structured noise - the typical waveform of the
interference is known in advance
– interfering waveform may not be an exact sinusoid; this is indicated by
the presence of harmonics of the fundamental 50 Hz or 60 Hz
component

• The most commonly encountered periodic artifact in

biomedical signals is the power line interference at 50 Hz or 60
Hz

• Power-line interference may be difficult to detect visually in

signals having nonspecific waveforms such as the PCG or EMG

• The interference is easily visible if present on well-defined

signal waveforms such as the ECG or carotid pulse signals.
• Physiological interference: Several physiological processes
could be active at a given instant of time, each one producing
many signals of different types.
• A patient or experimental subject may not be able to exercise
control on all physiological processes and systems - appearance
of signals from systems or processes other than those of interest
may be termed as physiological interference
– EMG related to coughing, breathing, or squirming affecting the ECG
– EGG interfering with precordial ECG
– Maternal ECG getting added to the fetal ECG of interest
– ECG interfering with the EEG
– On going EEG in ERPs and SEPs
– Breath, lung, or bowel sounds contaminating the heart sounds (PCG)
– Heart sounds getting mixed with breath or lung sounds
– Muscle sound (VMG) interference in joint sounds (VAG)
– Needle-insertion activity appearing at the beginning of a needle-EMG
recording