A biosignal is any

signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The '' IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing' ...

in living

being In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities e ...

s that can be continually measured and monitored. The term biosignal is often used to refer to bioelectrical signals, but it may refer to both electrical and non-electrical signals. The usual understanding is to refer only to time-varying signals, although spatial parameter variations (e.g. the nucleotide sequence determining the

genetic code The genetic code is the set of rules used by living cells to translate information encoded within genetic material ( DNA or RNA sequences of nucleotide triplets, or codons) into proteins. Translation is accomplished by the ribosome, which links ...

) are sometimes subsumed as well.

Electrical biosignals

Electrical biosignals, or bioelectrical time signals, usually refers to the change in

electric current An electric current is a stream of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is measured as the net rate of flow of electric charge through a surface or into a control volume. The movi ...

produced by the sum of an

electrical potential The electric potential (also called the ''electric field potential'', potential drop, the electrostatic potential) is defined as the amount of work energy needed to move a unit of electric charge from a reference point to the specific point in ...

difference across a specialized tissue, organ or cell system like the

nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part of an animal that coordinates its actions and sensory information by transmitting signals to and from different parts of its body. The nervous system detects environmental changes ...

. Thus, among the best-known bioelectrical signals are: *

Electroencephalogram Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. The biosignals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in the neocortex ...

(EEG) * Electrocardiogram (ECG) *

Electromyogram Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph to produce a record called an electromyogram. An electromyog ...

(EMG) * Electrooculogram (EOG) *

Electroretinogram Electroretinography measures the electrical responses of various cell types in the retina, including the photoreceptors ( rods and cones), inner retinal cells ( bipolar and amacrine cells), and the ganglion cells. Electrodes are placed on th ...

(ERG) * Electrogastrogram (EGG) *

Galvanic skin response Electrodermal activity (EDA) is the property of the human body that causes continuous variation in the electrical characteristics of the skin. Historically, EDA has also been known as skin conductance, galvanic skin response (GSR), electrodermal ...

(GSR) or

electrodermal activity Electrodermal activity (EDA) is the property of the human body that causes continuous variation in the electrical characteristics of the skin. Historically, EDA has also been known as skin conductance, galvanic skin response (GSR), electrodermal ...

(EDA) EEG, ECG, EOG and EMG are measured with a

differential amplifier A differential amplifier is a type of electronic amplifier that amplifies the difference between two input voltages but suppresses any voltage common to the two inputs. It is an analog circuit with two inputs V_\text^- and V_\text^+ and one outpu ...

which registers the difference between two electrodes attached to the skin. However, the galvanic skin response measures

electrical resistance The electrical resistance of an object is a measure of its opposition to the flow of electric current. Its reciprocal quantity is , measuring the ease with which an electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallel ...

and the MEG measures the

magnetic field A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to ...

induced by electrical currents (

electroencephalogram Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method to record an electrogram of the spontaneous electrical activity of the brain. The biosignals detected by EEG have been shown to represent the postsynaptic potentials of pyramidal neurons in the neocortex ...

) of the brain. With the development of methods for remote measurement of electric fields using new sensor technology, electric biosignals such as EEG and ECG can be measured without electric contact with the skin. This can be applied, for example, for remote monitoring of brain waves and heart beat of patients who must not be touched, in particular patients with serious burns. Electrical currents and changes in

s across tissues can also be measured from plants. Biosignals may also refer to any non-electrical signal that is capable of being monitored from biological beings, such as mechanical signals (e.g. the

mechanomyogram The mechanomyogram (MMG) is the mechanical signal observable from the surface of a muscle when the muscle is contracted. At the onset of muscle contraction, gross changes in the muscle shape cause a large peak in the MMG. Subsequent vibrations are d ...

or MMG), acoustic signals (e.g. phonetic and non-phonetic utterances, breathing), chemical signals (e.g. pH, oxygenation) and optical signals (e.g. movements).

Use in artistic contexts

In recent years, the use of biosignals has gained interest amongst an international artistic community of performers and composers who use biosignals to produce and control sound. Research and practice in the field go back decades in various forms and have lately been enjoying a resurgence, thanks to the increasing availability of more affordable and less cumbersome technologies. An entire issue of ''eContact!'', published by the

Canadian Electroacoustic Community Founded in 1986, La Communauté électroacoustique canadienne / The Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC) is Canada's national electroacoustic / computer music / sonic arts organization and is dedicated to promoting this progressive art form ...

in July 2012, was dedicated to this subject, with contributions from the key figures in the domain.''eContact! 14.2 — Biotechnological Performance Practice / Pratiques de performance biotechnologique''
(July 2012). Montréal: CEC.

References

Bibliography

*Donnarumma, Marco.
Proprioception, Effort and Strain in "Hypo Chrysos": Action art for vexed body and the Xth Sense
" ''eContact! 14.2 — Biotechnological Performance Practice / Pratiques de performance biotechnologique'' (July 2012). Montréal: CEC. *Tanaka, Atau.
The Use of Electromyogram Signals (EMG) in Musical Performance: A Personal survey of two decades of practice
" ''eContact! 14.2 — Biotechnological Performance Practice / Pratiques de performance biotechnologique'' (July 2012). Montréal: CEC. * {{cite book , editor-last=Naït-Ali , editor-first=Amine , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9DR_QaDYCHYC , title=Advanced Biosignal Processing , publisher=Springer Berlin Heidelberg , location=Berlin, Heidelberg , year=2009 , isbn=978-3-540-89505-3 , doi=10.1007/978-3-540-89506-0 , ref={{sfnref , Springer Berlin Heidelberg , 2009

External links

;Applications:
Using electroencephalograph signals for task classification and activity recognition MicrosoftNASA scientists use hands-off approach to land passengers jet
;Hardware:
University of Vienna : cours Biomedical Engineering, Electromyography (EMG)
* ttp://www.bitalino.com BITalino: DiY Biosignals Biology terminology Electrophysiology

Electrical biosignals

Use in artistic contexts

See also

References

Bibliography

External links