Biomedical sensor classifications
Biomedical sensor classifications
Biomedical sensors are usually classified according to the quantity to be measured and are typically categorized as physical, electrical, or chemical depending on their specific applications. Biosensors, which can be considered a special subclassification of biomedical sensors, refers to a group of sensors that have two distinct components:
1) a biological recognition element such as a purified enzyme, antibody, or receptor, which functions as a mediator and provides the selectivity that is needed to sense the chemical component [usually referred to as the analyte] of interest, and
2) a supporting structure, which also acts as a transducer and is in intimate contact with the biological component.
The purpose of the transducer is to convert the biochemical reaction into the form of an optical, electrical, or physical signal that is proportional to the concentration of a specific chemical. Thus, a blood pH sensor is not a biosensor according to this classification, although it measures a biologically important variable. It is simply a chemical sensor that can be used to measure a biological quantity.
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