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Biomedical subjects

R Pallás-Areny

Publications and source records attributed to R Pallás-Areny.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

A new method for automated blood pressure measurement.

We propose a new technique for automated indirect blood pressure measurement based on the auscultatory method. Systolic, diastolic and blood mean pressure are identified by looking at trend changes in the spectral energy dispersion of Korotkoff sounds. The detection is solely based on patient measurements, not on population studies. By comparing the automatic detection with common auditory detection, in 286 measurements taken in 15 subjects there was agreement (+/- 1 sound--400 Pa error) in 278 cases for the systole and 276 cases for the diastole.

Auscultation↗
PubMed1995

Errors in prolonged electrical impedance measurements due to electrode repositioning and postural changes.

Long-term electrical impedance measurements are affected by specific errors. Electrode failure, changes in its impedance due to aging, and postural changes are among the most important. We analyse errors due to electrode replacement and body postural changes. Electrode replacement errors can cause impedance changes up to 5% of basal value. This is one of the most important factors in data reproducibility. Body postural changes also contribute to impedance variations. We have proposed the use of a reference position to carry out impedance measurements as the one that shows the smallest impedance sensitivity to postural changes. In general, we observed that this is achieved with arms and legs slightly separated from the body. We propose the use of a ratio of impedance at two different frequencies to discern the origin of impedance changes, whether from physiological phenomena or postural errors.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

A multifrequency multichannel electrical impedance data acquisition system for body fluid shift monitoring.

This paper discusses some important issues for the design of electrical impedance measurement systems intended for body fluid shift monitoring, in particular during dialysis treatments. We have studied two common signal generation systems: digital synthesis and carrier recovery. We have found that in prolonged measurement applications, digital synthesis yields the best performance. On the demodulation side, we balance the demodulator errors between the real and imaginary parts by rotating the demodulation axes. We use segmental multifrequency impedance measurements to estimate the values of intracellular and extracellular impedance by adjusting the parameters of a Cole-Cole model for each segment measured. We stress the need to perform segmental measurements in order to accurately measure the segments of interest, in particular the trunk during dialysis treatments. Our results show that there is a sharp disequilibrium between the intracellular and extracellular compartments in the very first dialysis period. This fact generates the need to continuously measure segmental impedance instead of comparing initial and final values.

Body Fluid Compartments↗
PubMed1993

Bioelectric impedance measurements using synchronous sampling.

We have applied synchronous sampling to the demodulation of bioelectric impedance signals. This overcomes the need for analog demodulators in bioimpedance measurements. The sampling rate is determined by signal bandwidth, rather than by the highest frequency component before demodulation.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

AC instrumentation amplifier for bioimpedance measurements.

We analyze the input impedance and CMRR requirements for an amplifier for bioimpedance measurements when considering the capacitive components of the electrode-skin contact impedance. We describe an ac-coupled instrumentation amplifier (IA) that, in addition to fulfilling those requirements, both provides interference and noise reduction, and yields a zero phase shift over a wide frequency band without using broadband op amps.

Amplifiers, Electronic↗
PubMed1992

Skin impedance measurements using simple and compound electrodes.

We have studied the effect of the electrode configuration on the measurement of body impedance and found that the electrode configuration greatly affects the impedance measurement using the four-electrode method. We studied the characteristics of the compound electrode and found that the compound electrode provides the four-electrode method in a compact form. A new method of measuring the skin impedance using simple electrodes at low frequencies was developed. At high frequencies where the effect of internal tissue impedance is not negligible, we used the compensation method using compound electrodes, because they measure the voltage right under the skin. At 50 kHz, we measured the real part of the skin impedance of less than 80 omega on the thorax. We propose a simple instrument which can measure accurate skin impedance at various frequencies.

Electric Conductivity↗
PubMed1990

Composite instrumentation amplifier for biopotentials.

We present the design of an instrumentation biopotential amplifier that, (a) combines the ac coupling and high input impedance of an ac-coupled buffer with the CMRR of a simple differential amplifier or a monolithic instrumentation amplifier, (b) improves the CMRR by using a potentiometer without requiring either precision resistors or high-CMRR op amps, (c) illustrates how to calculate the CMRR for differential-input stages for either differential output or single-ended output. With our approach, for the 741 op amp, the CMRR of the differential stage exceeds 126 dB at 10 Hz and 106 dB at 100 Hz, which is higher than the 90 dB of the op amp alone. This is because a potentiometer permits mismatch of the resistor ratio, which compensates for the low CMRR of the op amp. Use of the LF355 op amp, which has a wider band-width, yields a CMRR of 126 dB at both 10 and 100 Hz. If the second stage is an instrumentation amplifier then no adjustment is necessary. Mismatch of passive components in the bootstrapped input buffer stage decreases the CMRR from 126 dB to 112 dB at 60 Hz and decreases it further at lower frequencies, but that is not a problem for the usual power-line interference.

Action Potentials↗
PubMed1990

Two-frequency impedance plethysmograph: real and imaginary parts.

A four-channel impedance plethysmograph has been designed. Impedance signals are obtained at two frequencies by measuring both real and imaginary parts. Particular attention has been paid to the sine wave generation circuits that provide system versatility. The required phase-sensitive demodulation is achieved by means of analogue multiplexers. Results show that there are significant variations in the thoracic equivalent capacitance related to respiration and that there is an increased sensitivity to cardiac activity at low frequencies.

Analog-Digital Conversion↗
PubMed1989

The effect of respiration-induced heart movements on the ECG.

We present a model describing the rotation of the cardiac vector as a possible mechanism resulting in the presence of respiratory information in the ECG. The way in which this information is revealed is analyzed and the predictions subjected to qualitative experimental assessment via spectral analysis. The results show that respiratory frequencies occur in the ECG spectrum due to heart movement. By measuring on a patient wearing a pacemaker and ventilated to control respiratory rate we show that even in the absence of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) there is a baseband information in the ECG spectrum, attributable neither to electrode artifacts nor to emg, and sidebands from the respiratory cycle.

Arrhythmia, Sinus↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Ag-AgCl electrode noise in high-resolution ECG measurements.

The authors measured the noise and impedance from face-to-face Ag-AgCl electrode pairs, as well as the noise from Ag-AgCl electrodes placed on the human body surface, in the frequency band from 0.5 Hz to 500 Hz, which corresponds to high-resolution ECG measurements. Electrode noise and electrode impedance were measured simultaneously to compare electrode noise with the thermal noise from the real part of electrode impedance. The results show that electrode noise depends on electrode area, electrolytic gel, the patient, and the placement site. In the frequency band from 0.5 Hz to 500 Hz, root-mean-square electrode noise is typically less than 1 microV for electrodes placed face-to-face and ranges from 1 microV to 15 microV for electrodes on the body surface. The noise spectral density increases at low frequencies as 1/fa and it is always higher than the thermal noise from the real part of the electrode impedance. There is a high correlation between electrode dc offset voltage and electrode noise. Thus, offset voltage measurements allow identification of noise from low-noise electrodes.

Algorithms↗