Biomedical Engineering

Biomedical engineering draws from a wide range of engineering principles, techniques and disciplines and applies them to the medical field. It uses design and problem solving skills of engineering with the medical and biological science to help innovate and improve health care and the quality of life. Biomedical engineering consists much of research and development in many fields including:

• Bioinformatics
• Medical Imaging
• Image Processing
• Physiological signal processing
• Biomechanics
• Biomaterials
• Bioengineering
• Systems Analysis and Modeling

Biomedical engineering is an interdisciplinary field that draws from various fields and sources. These fields include:

• Chemical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Computer Engineering
• Telecommunication Engineering

ADInstruments provide data acquisition solutions for biomedical signal analysis and processing

ADInstruments solutions with pressure transducers, flowmeters and flowprobes allow:

• Investigating the relationship of arterial blood pressure and flow
• Investigating the relationship of flow to an external pressure (auscultatory technique)
• Investigating flow rates and filtration parameters in the kidney

ADInstruments solutions with tissue baths and wire myographs allow:

• Investigation of the relationship between endothelial cell function of vessels and mechanical stress
• Investigation of the relationship between vessel wall tension and increased arterial blood pressure
• Investigation of the relationship between mechanical forces and remodelling of vascular tissue

ADInstruments solutions with isolated heart systems, biopotential amplifiers, invasive and Mikro-tip catheters allow:

• Investigation of cardiovascular responses to eternal stimuli (ie. chemical and mechanical stimuli)
  
• Investigation of the relationship between cardiovascular parameters and disease models
• Investigation of cardiac electrical potentials and irregular heart rhythms

ADInstruments solutions with exercise metabolic systems, respiratory instruments and the gas analyzer allow:

• Investigation of the effects of exercise on cardiovascular parameters
• Investigation of breathing and respiration in sleep studies

ADInstruments solutions with ion selective electrodes allow

• Calculation of water and ion transport in different environments

ADInstruments solutions with extracellular and intracellular preamplifiers allow:

• Investigation of neurological function

LabChart
LabChart software (for Windows and Macintosh) combines the familiar simplicity of a traditional strip chart recorder with the powerful analysis features of a digital acquisition system. LabChart software and a PowerLab data acquisition unit provide data integrity, easy selection of hardware settings, powerful online and offline analysis, procedure automation, seamless extraction of experimental data and flexible display options. Acquisition and analysis capabilities can be further increased with LabChart Extensions and LabChart Modules. LabChart Modules are available as part of LabChart Pro and LabChart Extensions are free for download from the website for existing LabChart users.

ECG Analysis Module (Windows)
The MLS360/6 ECG Analysis Module provides a comprehensive set of tools that automatically detects and reports values of ECG recordings. The software can be used with ECG recordings taken from humans and many species of animals from pigs through to mice.


Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Module (Windows or Macintosh)
The MLS310 HRV Module provides a comprehensive set of tools for the analysis and display of variation in the interval between heartbeats in human and animal electrocardiogram recordings.

Blood Pressure Module (Windows)
The MLS370/6 Blood Pressure Module for Windows provides easy data extraction and analysis of cardiovascular parameters from arterial or ventricular pressure signals.

Cardiac Output Module (Windows)
The MLS340/6 Cardiac Output Module provides easy extraction and calculation of cardiac output from small animals recorded in LabChart, using the thermodilution technique.

Dose Response Module (Windows)
The MLS390/6 Dose Response Module provides easy analysis of dose response type data (response to stimulation by chemical, electrical or physical agonists) recorded in LabChart from various studies.

Peak Analysis Module (Windows)
The MLS380/6 Peak Analysis Module provides automatic detection and analysis of multiple, but not overlapping, signal peaks in acquired waveforms. It can be applied to a wide range of waveforms including recorded signals from:

• Isolated tissue studies
• Hemodynamic measurements
• Amperometry
• Cardiac physiology
• Neurophysiology
• Current measurements

Spike Histogram Module (Windows or Macintosh)
The MLS062/6 Spike Histogram Module for LabChart in combination with ADInstruments hardware provides the neuroscientist, in conjunction with our PowerLab systems, the ability to record and analyze extracellular spike data in real time and offline.

DMT Normalization Module (Windows and Macintosh)
The MLS065/6 DMT Normalization Module is designed for use with PowerLab data acquisition units, LabChart software and DMT Wire Myographs, and calculates the optimal pretension conditions for microvascular or any small tubular tissue research.

Scope
Scope software, supplied with PowerLab systems, provides powerful display, recording and analysis features to transform your computer into a two-channel storage oscilloscope, XY plotter or Power Spectrum (FFT) analyser. Scope is used commonly to measure any high-frequency signal that is time-locked to a stimulus such as action potentials and evoked responses. For analyzing Evoked Potentials, the Scope Software is recommended because it provides signal averaging functions that are necessary to extract the evoked response from background noise.

GLP and 21 CFR Part 11
For those researchers working within a laboratory requiring GLP and 21 CFR Part 11 compliance the GLP Client and GLP Server are available for use with LabChart (Windows only) and PowerLab data acquisition systems. For more information, visit the Good Laboratory Practice application page or contact your nearest ADInstruments representative.

Data Recording and Analysis
PowerLab data acquisition systems and LabChart/Scope software can record data at high sampling rates and provide data integrity. They include:

• ML866 PowerLab 4/30 – 4 channels
• ML870 PowerLab 8/30 – 8 channels
• ML880 PowerLab 16/30 – 16 channels

Research Systems
ADInstruments provide various preconfigured systems for research applications including:

• ML870B11 One Channel Perivascular Flow System
• ML870B12 One Channel Tubing Flow System
• ML870B13 Two Channel Perivascular Flow System
• ML870B14 Two Channel Tubing Flow System
• ML870B15 Two Channel Perivascular/Tubing Flow System
• ML870B35 Mikro-Tip BP Foundation System
• ML870B45 MPVS-300 Foundation System
• ML880B46 MPVS-Ultra Foundation System
• ML870B2 Langendorff System
• ML870B1-V Mouse Langendorff Constant Pressure Recirculating System
• ML870B3-V Rat Langendorff Constant Flow Non-recirculating System
• ML870B4-V Rat Langendorff Constant Pressure Non-recirculating System
• ML870B55-V Radnoti Working Heart System for Mice
• ML880B56-V Mouse Working Heart Ultimate System
• ML870B50/X-V Radnoti Working Heart System for Rats/Rabbits
• ML880B51/S-V Rat Working Heart Ultimate System
• ML870B5/C Panlab 4 Chamber Organ Bath System
• ML870B60/C-V Radnoti 4 Chamber Tissue-Organ Bath System
• ML870B6/C Panlab 8 Chamber Organ Bath System
• ML870B61/C-V Radnoti 8 Chamber Tissue-Organ Bath System
• ML880B7/C Panlab 16 Chamber Organ Bath System
• ML880B62/C-V Radnoti 16 Chamber Tissue-Organ Bath System
• ML870B21 Single Wire Myograph System
• ML870B22 Dual Wire Myograph System
• ML870B23 Auto Dual Myograph System
• ML870B24 Multi-Chamber Myograph System
• ML870B25 Confocal Wire Myograph System
• ML870B70 Extracellular Recording System
• ML870B71 Intracellular Recording System
• ML870B72 Two Electrode Voltage Clamp System
• ML870B80 Exercise Physiology System
• ML870B99 Telemetry ECG/Biopotential Foundation System
• ML870B100 Telemetry SNA Foundation System
• ML870B101 Telemetry Dual Biopotential Foundation System

Use of Telemetry to Record Electrocardiogram and Heart Rate in Freely Moving Mice.

K. Kramer, S. A. van Acker, H.-P. Voss, J. A. Grimbergen, W. J. van der Vijgh, A. Bast, Journal of Pharmacolological and Toxicological Methods, 209-215, 1993

The telemetry system consisted of implantable transmitters, receiver, ECG adaptor ... obtained from DATA Sciences ... connect via a MacLab data acquisition system ...

Training reduces automonic cardiovascular responses to both exercise-dependent and -independent stimuli in humans

Saoirse E O'Sullivan, Christopher Bell, Autonomic Neuroscience (now J Auton Nervous System), 76-84, 2001

Subjects were seated upright during the testing session and standard frontal plane ECG recorded continuously via a MacLab data acquisition system and displayed together with beat-to-beat heart rate.

Evoked cerebral blood flow in linear to neuronal activation but independent of metabolic oxygen demand

T Matsuura and I Kanno, International Congress Series, 107-113, 2002

Sprague–Dawley rats (320–460 g) were anesthetized with halothane (4% for induction and 1.5% during surgery) in 30% oxygen and 70% nitrous oxide. The tail artery and the left femoral vein were cannulated for blood pressure monitoring, blood gas sampling, and intravenous drug administration. Following tracheotomy, alpha-chloralose (75 mg/kg, i.v.) was administered, and halothane and nitrous oxide administrations were discontinued. The rat was immobilized with pancuronium bromide (0.7 mg/kg, i.v.), and ventilated with a respirator (SN-480-7, Shinano, Japan) using room air and supplemental oxygen throughout the experimental period. Anesthesia was maintained with alpha-chloralose (45 mg/kg/h, i.v.), and muscle relaxation, with pancuronium bromide (0.8 mg/kg/hr, i.v.). The body temperature was maintained at approximately 37.0°C using a heating pad (ATC-101, Unique Medical, Japan). The rat was fixed in a stereotactic frame, and the parietal bone was thinned to translucency at the left somatosensory area. Local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) was measured with a laser-doppler flowmeter (LDF) (Periflux 4001 Master, Perimed, Sweden) equipped with an LDF probe with a tip diameter of 0.46 mm (Probe 411, Perimed, Sweden). A tungsten microelectrode (12 MOhms) was inserted into the somatosensory cortex of the hind paw area through the thinned portion of the skull, and fixed using dental cement. The tip of the electrode was set at a depth of approximately 0.5 mm from the surface of the cortex. An Ag–AgCl indifferent electrode was placed between the skull bone and the scalp. The LDF signal and recording of field potential of 30–50 successive measurements were accumulated in order to reduce the noise level of the signal using the MacLab dataacquisition software (AD Instruments, Australia).