MULTIPLE ZERO CROSSINGS FOR MEDICAL INSTRUMENTATION

THE ZERO CROSSINGS OF WAVEFORMS AS WELL AS THOSE OF DERIVATIVES AND OTHER FUNCTIONS OF THESE WAVEFORMS ARE EASY TO DETERMINE WITH RAPID AND INEXPENSIVE DIGITAL ENCODING FORPROCESSING BY PERSONAL COMPUTERS. THE METHODS ARE SUPPORTEDBY MATHEMATICS, WHICH IS NECESSARY IF THEORY IS TO BE EXTENDED TO UNFAMILIAR AREAS. MEASUREMENTS ARE ALMOST INDEPENDENT OF AMPLITUDE SCALING AND ARE REPEATABLE. PHASE I RESEARCH WILL EXPLORE THE APPLICABILITY OF ZERO-CROSSING METHODS TO A VARIETY OF INSTRUMENTATION TASKS,INCLUDING THOSE INVOLVING MULTIPLE WAVEFORMS WHERE CROSS-CORRELATIONS ARE OF INTEREST. MATHEMATICAL MODELS ANDMETHODS WILL BE EXTENDED, AND SIGNAL SENSING AND CONDITIONING APPARATUS WILL BE ADAPTED FOR PERSONAL COMPUTERINPUT. ZERO-CROSSING ANALYSIS IS COMPARATIVELY UNDERSTANDABLE BY THE SPECIALIST NOT SKILLED IN MATHEMATICS. THE LONGER RANGE OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP A FAMILY OF LOW-COST ANALYTICAL INSTRUMENTS THAT CAN BE ATTACHED TO THE STANDARD OFFICE COMPUTER WITH NORMAL VIDEO DISPLAY AND ASSOCIATED PRINTER. THE WIDESPREAD AVAILABILITY OF ADDITIONAL INSTRUMENTS PRODUCING HARD-COPY RECORDS WILL GENERALLY IMPROVE PATIENT CARE AND SERVE THE NEEDS OF PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE.