MEDICAL SIGNAL PROCESSING

- INTRODUCTION -

DR SAMEER HASAN
 Course Contents
• Introduction to Digital Signal & Image Processing
• Signal sampling and quantization (ADC & DAC)
• Digital Signals and systems
• Discrete Fourier Transform & Frequency Response
• Discrete Fourier Analysis & Signal Spectrum
• The z-Transforms & Stability
• FIR Filter Design
• IIR Filter Design
• Fundamentals of Image Processing
 Recommended Textbooks

• Semmlow, John. Circuits, Signals and Systems for Bioengineers: A

MATLAB-based Introduction. Academic Press, 2017.

• Tan, Lizhe, and Jean Jiang. Digital signal processing: fundamentals

and applications. Academic Press, 2018.

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 Overview
• Introduction
• Signal, System, and Signal Processing
• Analog vs. Digital Signal Processing
• Advantages of Digital Signal Processing
• DSP Applications
• DSP Examples
 Signal
• A signal is a carrier of information.

Example:
• Voice contains information about who is speaking and what is spoken.

• ECG contains information related to heart function.

 System
• A system is an entity that manipulates one or more signals to
accomplish a function, thereby yielding new signals.

• A System has inputs and outputs.

• Examples
– Amplifiers, Radios, Televisions
– Telephone, Modem, Computer
– Oscilloscopes, EKG, EEG, EMG machines
 Biological Systems

 A system is a collection of processes or components that interact for

some common purpose.

 Many systems of the human body are based on function such as the
cardiovascular system, pulmonary system, renal system, or on
endocrine system, and the nervous system.

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 Bio-signals
• A way of interacting with biological system.

• Interaction or communication with a biological system is done

through bio-signals.

• The stimulus refers to signals directed at a specific physiological

process, and the output signal evoked by these inputs is the
response.

• Signals are variations in energy that carry information.

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Bio-signals

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 Bio-transducers
• A “transducer” is a device that converts energy from one form
to another. In measurement systems, all transducers are so-
called input transducers, they convert non-electrical energy
into an electronic signal.
• In signal processing applications, the purpose of energy
conversion is to transfer information, not to transform energy.
• In physiological measurement systems, all transducers are
input transducers: they convert non-electrical energy into an
electronic signal.

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 Bio-transducers
The most critical element in the system: it
often defines the accuracy or resolution A cardiac microphone is
of the measurement and acts as an a bio-transducer that
interface between the life process and converts the
the rest of the system. mechanical sound
energy produced by the
heart into an electrical
signal is shown. The
device uses a
piezoelectric disk that
produces a voltage
when it is deformed by
movement of the
patient’s chest.

The white foam pad covers the piezoelectric disk and is specially designed to
improve the coupling of energy between the chest and the piezoelectric disk. 11
 Signal Processing
• The conversion from excitation to response is called signal
processing

• A typical reason for signal processing is to eliminate or reduce

an undesirable signal

• We convert the original signal into a form that is suitable for

further processing

• One fundamental representation of a signal is as a function of

at least one independent variable
 Bio-electric Transducers
• Physiological electrical activity is monitored with a transducer that
converts electrical energy from ionic to electronic current termed and
electrode.

• These sources are usually given the term ExG, where the “x”
represents the physiological process that produces the electrical
energy:
ECG—electrocardiogram (heart)
EEG—electroencephalogram (brain)
EMG—electromyogram (muscle)
EOG—electrooculogram (eye)
ERG—electroretinogram (retina)
EGG—electrogastrogram. (stomach)

 An exception to this terminology is the galvanic skin response, GSR, the

electrical activity generated by the skin.

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 Analog vs. Digital Signal Processing

Analog input Signal x(t) Analog output Signal y(t)

Analog
Signal Processor

Analog Signal Processing

Analog input Analog output

Signal x(t) Signal y(t)
A/D Digital D/A
converter Signal Processor converter

Digital Signal Processing

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Advantages of Digital Signal Processing

• A digital programmable system allows flexibility in

reconfiguring the DSP operations simply by changing the
program. Reconfiguration of an analogue system usually
implies a redesign of hardware, testing and verification that it
operates properly.

• DSP provides better control of accuracy requirements.

• Digital signals are easily stored on storage media i.e. hard disk

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Advantages of Digital Signal Processing

• The DSP allows for the implementation of more sophisticated

signal processing algorithms.

• In some cases a digital implementation of the signal

processing system is cheaper than its analogue counterpart.

• DSP consume relatively less power than analog counterpart.

• DSP processor can be reuse for many applications

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 DSP Applications
• Touch-Tone™ telephones
• Edge detection in images
• Digital signal and image filtering
• Seismic analysis
• Text recognition
• Music synthesis
• Bar code readers
• RADAR
• Sonar processing
• Satellite image analysis
• Digital mapping
• Cellular telephones
• Digital cameras
• Detection of narcotics and explosives
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 DSP Applications

• Echo cancellation
• Antilock brakes
• Signal and image compression
• Noise reduction
• Companding
• High definition television (HDTV)
• Digital audio
• Encryption
• Motor control
• Smart appliances
• Home security
• High speed modems
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 DSP Applications
Medical Applications

• CT scans
• Magnetic resonance image (MRI) scans
• Diagnostic ultrasound imaging
• Electrocardiogram(ECG) analysis
• Electroencephalogram(EEG) analysis
• Medical image processing
• Cochlear implants
• Remote medical monitoring
• Speech synthesis
• Speech recognition
• Hearing aid
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DSP Examples
Digital Filtering

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 DSP Examples
50/60 Hz Interference Cancellation in Electrocardiography

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DSP Examples
Signal Spectrum Analysis

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 DSP Examples
Digital Image Enhancement using Histogram Equalization

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 What is signal processing ?
• The purpose of signal processing is to make it easier to extract
useful information and to make correct decisions.

 For this purpose, we have:

– Signal enhancement
– Signal restoration
– Signal reconstruction
– Signal synthesis
– Signal estimation and prediction

• After signal processing, we can extract more important

information, and recognize, aware, and make decisions
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 Signal Enhancement

• Signal amplification in
radio, TV, human ears.

• Image enhancement in
image processing.

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 Signal Restoration

• Restore a signal corrupted by

noise or undesired background

– Tuning in radio and TV

– Noise removal
– Pick up the voice of a certain
person from a combined voices.

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Restoration of face images

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 Signal Reconstruction

• Reconstruct a signal from different measurement

– Computerized tomogram (CT)
– Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging
– Reconstruct 3D images from different 2D views

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Signal Synthesis

• Find a system that can generate the desired signal

– Speech synthesis
– 3D sound synthesis
– Make a virtual world in computer

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 Signal Estimation

• Estimate the future values from observed data

– Stock prediction
– Electrical Demand prediction
– Image compression
– Adaptive signal processing

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Mathematic representations of signals

How do we describe Signals?

• Signals are associated with an independent variable(s): e.g.,

time, single or multivariate spatial coordinate

 Most instrumentation signals have time as their

independent variable
 A digital photograph or image has spatial coordinates as
its independent variables

• Signal Independent Variables can be either Continuous or

Discrete

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Mathematic representations of signals

 Continuous and Discrete Time Signals

To be stored or processed in a digital computer, a

continuous analog signal be converted to a series
of numbers through a process known as sampling.

Ts is known as the sampling interval.

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Mathematic representations of signals

 Continuous and Discrete Time Signals

• Transformations between the time and frequency domain are exact: there is
no loss of signal information during the transfer.

• Transformations between continuous and discrete domains are

approximate and only done in the time domain.. 35
Mathematic representations of signals

• Signals Properties

 Real or Complex values

 Periodic or non-periodic

 Bounded or Unbounded

 Symmetries

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Mathematic representations of signals

• Complex Signals

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Mathematic representations of signals

• Complex Signals

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Mathematic representations of signals

• Periodic or non-periodic

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Mathematic representations of signals

• Bounded or Unbounded

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Mathematic representations of signals

• Signal Symmetries

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Some basic signals

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