AUTOMATED MEASUREMENTS - CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENT - FROM TRANSDUCER TO MICROCOMPUTER

Systems used to measure physiological and physical environmental param eters have benefited from technological advances achieved in all aspec ts of electronic measurement devices. Few changes have been made in el ectrophysiological signal collection techniques, but telemetry systems have been improved, with the development of reduced-size implantable transmitters. Transducers used to measure physical parameters have als o become smaller. The great changes in signal conditioning electronics are mostly the production of more ergonomic and compact systems; perf ormances have remained approximately the same. Data processing and sto rage techniques have undergone the greatest changes with the advent of digital electronics and new storage supports. With increased power an d speed PCs can operate with real time electrophysiological signal ana lysis, classification of physiological stages, ... and to gradual auto mation of measurements.