1.

A typical electrocardiograph is constructed from 12 leads, created from

pairs of surface electrodes placed on the skin surface. The QRS cycle
represents depolarization of the right and left ventricles during heart
contractions.

a. Assume that ECG electrodes are placed on the right arm (RA), left arm
(LA), and left leg (LL), are all 60 cm from the heart, and the body tissue
resistivity is ρ=0.8 Ohms*m. Assume the electrodes sensing surfaces have
an area of 1 cm2. What is the resistance of body tissue between the heart and
each electrode?

B. Assume the heart creates a voltage of 120 mV over one QRS cycle. What
is the current passing through the body, from heart to electrodes?
T
hree leads are I, II, and III, created by LA-RA, LL-RA, and LL-LA voltages,
respectively. At which angles are these leads oriented? Sketch a diagram of
the leads. Sketch a 4- chambered heart in the middle of the electrodes, and
label the left and right atria, left and right ventricles, and the septum.

Match the leads to the regions of the heart each lead is most sensitive to,
electrically.

Review the pdf with the diagram about the ECG. Define what is happening
in the heart during the Q, R, and S phases of the ECG cycle.


How much electrical power do the ventricles release in one QRS cycle?
Estimate. You will need to construct a circuit from the ventrical walls and
septa, assume a resistivity, and calculate resistance by estimating heart wall
cross-sectional area and length of the ventricle perimeter.
What are three problems with ECG recordings (error factors)?

2. What is
diagrams and equations in your answer.

the difference between the sensitivity of a sensor, and the instrument as a

whole? Use
3. Use Ohm’s Law, Kirchoff’s Voltage Law, and capacitor equations to
derive the differential equation whose solution is the voltage response
of a RC circuit. 


4. For a diagnostic test, define a true positive, false positive, false negative,
and true negative result. 


5. A potentiometer is a voltage divider. The resistances, R1 and R2, are able

to be varied (for example, by moving the electrical contact point for
output voltage along a wire of fixed resistance).

a. Derive the voltage divider equation involving input voltage, Vi,

output voltage, Vo, R1, and R2. Draw the circuit and use basic
equations and laws. 


b. Describe how a potentiometer could be used directly to measure

displacement, for example, of a patient’s chest during
respiration, to form a breathing monitor. 


6. Draw a Wheatstone bridge with four resistors R1-R4, and line voltage of
V=1 Volt. 


a. Assume the bridge is in balance. List some possible combinations

of resistance values for R1-R4.

b. Assume the bridge is not in balance, and the unbalanced voltage

over the bridge is Vx. Use Kirchoff’s voltage and current laws to
define an expression for Vx as a function of the line voltage V, and
resistances R1-R4.