School of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

BG3105 Biomedical Instrumentation

Tutorial Part I Solution
Lecture 1-3 (Introduction to Bio-instrumentation):
Q1. Find the equivalent resistance of the following circuit?

Solution:
6

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Q2. What is the output voltage (0) of the following amplifier circuit?

Solution:
12 V.

As we know that no current flows into the OP-AMP or the positive and the negative terminal
are at the same voltage (1). The diagram below shows the flow of currents.

1 =

5
= 1
5

2 =

1 1 1 2
=
= 1
1
1

1 = 2 1 = 2

0 = 1 10 2 = 2 + 10 1 = 12

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1

Q3. Given a resistor with 5% accuracy, what will be the percent accuracy in ?

i) 2.5%
ii) 5%
iii) -5%
1

iv) %.
Solution: ii

= 1/

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Q4. A DC voltage across a resistor is measured with an accuracy of 3%. If the resistor is
valued with a 5% accuracy, what is the percent accuracy in determining the power dissipated
by the resistor from values of the resistor and measured voltage?
Solution:

2
1
=
=

= + + = 3% + 3% + 5% = 11%

The percent accuracy in power measurement will be 11%.

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Q5. A Wheatstone bridge for measuring resistance is shown below, where 1 , 2 , and 3 are
resistors of the bridge circuit and is the resistor to be measured. The bridge circuit is
balanced by adjusting 3 such that the voltmeter indicates zero reading. Then the value of
can be represented in terms of the bridge resistors.
(i) Show that the balanced condition for the

bridge circuit is 1 = 3 = , where is a

2

constant.

(ii) Find the sensitivity for measurement of

near the balanced point.
(iii) If the relative measurement accuracy of
resistors 1 , 2 and 3 is 1%, what is the
relative measurement accuracy of ?
Solution:
(i) =

1 +2

3 +

. When the bridge is balanced, = 0.Thus, at balance:

1 3
2
=
2 3 = 1
=
= ,
1 + 2 3 +
2

(ii)

=
=

+
2

1 + 2 3 + +

1 + /
1 + /
1
1

1 + 1 + + /
1 /2 + 1 3 / + 1 + /

(1 + + / ) (1 + )(1 + / )
=

(1 + )(1 + + / )
=

(1 + )(1 + + / )

(iii) =

2 3
1

,
(1 + )2

= 1 + 2 + 3 = 3%
1

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Q6. You are measuring temperature of a solution using a mercury thermometer. You have
done measurements 10 times and obtained the following readings. 30.1, 30.2, 29.8, 32.1,
30.5, 29.9, 30.1, 29.5, 31.1, and 30.6. Calculate the mean and the standard deviation of the
measured temperatures.
Solution:
Mean:

30.1+30.2+29.8+32.1+30.5+29.9+30.1+29.5+31.1+30.6
= =
= 30.39

Standard Deviation:

( )2
1

10

(30.130.39)2 +(30.230.39)2 +(29.830.39)2 +

101

= 0.7505

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Q7. Below are some hypothetical results from mammogram for breast cancer screening.
What is the specificity of the mammogram?

Mammogram positive
Mammogram negative
Total

Breast cancer
70
30
100

No breast cancer
180
720
900

Total
250
750
1000

What are the sensitivity and specificity and prevalence of the disease?
Solution:
Sensitivity = 70/100 = 70%
Specificity = 720/900 = 80%
Prevalence = 100/1000 = 10%

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Lecture 4 (Pressure, Flow, and Temperature):

Q8. Consider the potentiometer measurement circuit on
the right.
(i) What is the expected reading of the voltmeter?
(ii) If the internal resistance of the voltmeter is , what
is the measured voltage?
Solution:
(i) =

(ii) The equivalent circuit is

The reading is:

//
+
=
=

( ) + //
( ) +
+

=

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Q9. A capacitive pressure measurement scheme is shown below where the movable and fixed
metal diaphragms form a capacitor . Assume that the common area of the diaphragm, the
dielectric constant of the capacitor are known, and the distance between the diaphragm is
inversely proportional to the gas pressure.
(i) Show that the gas pressure can be
measured by measuring the capacitance
value .

(ii) If the percent accuracy in measuring

is 5%, the known value of the area
has a percent accuracy 3% and and
have fixed values, what is the percent
accuracy in measuring the pressure ?
Solution:
(i) Since the distance is inversely proportional to the pressure , there is a constant such

that = , =

(ii) =

, =

, = +

Percent accuracy in measuring pressure = 5%+3% = 8%

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Q10. If blood flowing in a blood vessel with a radius of 2 mm cuts a magnetic field with flux
density = 0.1 tesla, and the blood volume flow rate is 10 cm3/s, what is the electric
potential that can be detected across the blood vessel?
Solution:

2
=
=
4
4
4 4 10 0.013 0.1
=
= 0.318
=
3.14 2 2 103

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Q11. Which one is a piezoelectric material?

i) PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride)
ii) PZT (Lead Zirconium Titanate)
iii) Quartz
iv) All of the above
Solution: iv

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Q12. Explain briefly the working principle of thermocouple temperature sensor?

Solution:
When the junctions of two dissimilar metals are placed at two different temperatures, then
there is potential difference between the two junctions. By measuring this potential difference
and knowing one of the junction temperatures (reference junction temperature), the other
junction temperature can be measured. Typically, junction is placed at a location whose
temperature needs to be measure. The other junction is placed at a known temperature
(typically at zero degree C). Thus by measuring the voltage between the two junctions one
can measure the unknown temperature.

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Q13. The resistance of a semiconductor thermistor is a function in the absolute temperature

in Kelvin (K) expressed as () = (0 ) (0 )/(0 ) = (0 )

1 1

It is known that = 3150 and (300) = 1600 . Find the sensitivity of the thermistor at
= 300 = 310 , respectively.
Solution:

() = (0 )

()
= (0 )

1 1

0

1 1

0

= (0 )

1 1

0

1 1

1 1
1

1 1
1 1

()


0

0
0
= (0 )

= (0 )

1 1
()
1
1

= (0 ) 0 2 = () 2

()

= 2 ()

(300) = 1600 , (310) = 1600 3103003150 = 1140

3150
(300) =
(300) = 56 /

3002

3150
(310) =
(310) = 37.4 /

3102

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Lecture 5 (Electrical Safety):

Q14. What are macroshock and microshock?
Solution
macroshock: When a person touches a hot wire and the ground with his limbs.
Microschock: When a small amount of current directly passes through the heart.

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Q15. Explain how the isolation transformer works?

Solution
An isolation transformer is used to transfer electrical power from an AC source to some
equipment/device isolating the equipment/device and protect against electrical shock
(macroshock). With an isolation transformer there is no return path so one could touch the
hot wire without getting shock.

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Q16. Why cannot Ground-fault interrupter (GFI) be used on life support device circuitry?
Solution:
GFI stops the power supply when there is a fault. This may lead to death of the patient on life
support device.

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Q17. Explain how a line isolation monitor (LIM) can be used to detect a neutral line shorted
to the ground.
Solution
To detect fault of the neutral line the Line isolation monitor (LIM) needs to be connected
between the hot and ground lines. When there is no fault the current flowing through the
LIM is very small due to the very small stray capacitance. Once the neutral get shorted to the
ground, the current flowing through the LIM increases. The ammeter connected in the LIM
shows the fault.

Equivalent circuit

The current flowing through the LIM is =

very small, the current is also very small.

2
2 + 1

. Since the leakage capacitance C is

When the neutral gets shorted to the ground the equivalent circuit becomes,

Now the current flowing through the LIM is =

So the LIM is set in such a way that whenever there is a current flow higher than the set limit,
it will set an alarm, which indicates that there is a fault in the neutral wire.

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Q18. Calculate the maximal safe capacitance between a liquid-filled catheter and dc-isolated
pressure sensor leads for a 230 volts, 50 Hz fault in the sensor leads if its equivalent circuit is
as shown in Figure below.

Solution:
As this is a microshock hazard, so the maximal safe current is 10 A.
1

From the circuit, we have = 50 + 300 +

Current = || =

230
||

= 10

|| =

230
= 2.3 107
105
1

As both resistances are very small, || = = 2.3 107

1

Then, = 22.3107 = 138

This shows that the capacitance shouldnt be more than 138 pF for safety.

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Q19. A receptacle tester has the circuit shown below. Indicate which LEDs will be ON or
OFF for fault conditions given in Table.

Conditions
Hot open
Neutral open
H and N reversed, N open
Ground open
Hot and ground reversed

Conditions
Hot open
Neutral open
H and N reversed, N open
Ground open
Hot and ground reversed

1
OFF
ON
OFF
OFF
ON

2
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF
ON

3
OFF
OFF
OFF
ON
OFF

Solution:

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Lecture 6 (Lung, Spirometer):

Q20. What is internal and external respiration?
Solution:
Internal respiration is the exchange of gases between the bloodstream and nearby cells.
External respiration is the exchange of gases between the lungs and the bloodstream.

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Q21. Below are three different volumes related to human lung. What are i) the definitions
and ii) typical values for an adult lung? Tidal volume, Functional Residual Capacity (FRC),
Dead Space.
Solution:
Tidal Volume: volume of gas inspired or expired during each normal respiratory cycle. 500
ml.
FRC: Amount of gas remaining in the lungs at the resting expiration. 2400 ml.
Dead Space: Volume of air that is not available for gas exchange. 150 ml.

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Q22. How does spirometer work?

Solution:
A spirometer is used to measure lung volume. A simple spirometer can only measure the
volume inspired or expired, i.e., change in volume. A spirometer has a mouthpiece. One can
use the mouthpiece to breathe. The volume of the gases inside the spirometer will change as
the patient breathes. This volume change is proportional to the lung volume change. There is
a mechanical linkage between the volume change of the spirometer and the measurement
reading output (display).
A simple spirometer cannot be used to measure gas volume which remains inside the lung
such as, FRC, RV etc.

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Q23. a) Figure below shows a spirometer. In its simplest form, the bellow is mechanically
articulated to a biased potentiometer such that the wiper arm voltage is proportional to
volume. Derive the relationship of the voltage and volume.
b) If the spirometer has a radius of 10 cm, a maximum height of 10 cm, and = 10 ,
plot the air volume versus the output voltage.

Solution:
(a) is the maximal distance change that the bellows can change. So the maximum volume
change is = . Since the spirometer volume ( ) is proportional to the output
voltage ( ), =
If we adjust linkage such that at the potentiometer output has = .
=

Then the constant, =

As the changes in distance of bellows and output of potentiometer are proportional. We have

(b) As = , = , = , we have
( ) ( )
=
=
= . /
( )

So, = .

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Q24. Briefly explain nitrogen washout method for estimation of lung residual volume (RV)?
Solution
Nitrogen washout method for estimating lung residual volume is using a modified spirometer
setup and a nitrogen analyzer. Here, the patient starts inhaling pure oxygen through a one
way tube. Then he exhales air into the spirometer through another one way tube. When
exhaling he expels a mixture of oxygen, nitrogen and carbon-dioxide into the spirometer. So
after many breathing cycle the nitrogen content in the lung and in the spirometer will come to
equilibrium.
By doing a mass balance of nitrogen before and after the experiment, one can calculate the
RV. Provided the person started the breathing cycle at the moment when the lung volume was
at RV.
Lets say at the beginning (time 1 , and the lung volume is ), the total number of 2 moles
in the lung is given by,

2 (1 )

At the beginning the total number of 2 moles in the spirometer is NIL (0).
At the end (time 2 , and the lung volume is ), the total number of 2 moles in the lung is,

2 (2 )

At the end (time 2 , and the spirometer volume is (2 ), the total number of 2 moles in the
spirometer is,
(2 )
2 (2 )

By doing a mass balance (since no 2 has gone out of the lungs other than spirometer),


(2 )
2 (1 )
2 (2 )
= 2 (2 )



=

2 (2 ) (2 )

2 (1 ) 2 (2 )

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Lecture 7 (Heart, pacemaker, oximeter, Defibrillator):

Q25. When light passes through an ink solution in water the light intensity decreases by 6.02
dB. You are asked to take this solution and modify it only using water, so that when light
passes through the new solution its intensity gets attenuated only by half. What would you
do?
Solution

() = 1010
0

6.02 = 1010
0

10 = 6.02/10
0
0 = 3.99 4

Therefore, at present the ink solution is attenuating the light by 4 times.

To make a new solution which will attenuate only half, we need to dilute the ink solution by
two times. So take the ink solution, mix with equal volume of water and the new solution will
have half the concentration, therefore, it will attenuate light only by half.

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Q26. When a pacemaker is needed?

Solution
A pacemaker is needed when 1) the SA node ceases to function, or become unreliable, 2) The
pulse from the SA node cannot reach the heart muscle due to blockage by damaged tissue.

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Q27. What is Defibrillator used for?

Solution
A defibrillator is used to restore a normal cardiac rhythm from a ventricle fibrillation or atrial
fibrillation.

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