Electronic and Electromechanical Tester of Physiological Sensors

Abstract

Physiological sensors for respiration, cardiovascular activity and electrodermal activity have been historically used in polygraph devices and sleep laboratories. Periodic testing of these sensors is important to maintain predictable performance of the measurement equipment. This paper describes an Electronic and Electromechanical Tester (EET) for physiological sensors that allows for accurate and repeatable reproduction of the recorded or computer-generated physiological signals. The tester is interfaced to a personal computer via USB and contains four time-synchronous channels: two electromechanical simulators for testing abdominal and thoracic respiratory sensors, an electromechanical simulator for testing cardiovascular blood pressure cuff sensor, and an electronic simulator for testing electrodermal sensors. All of the simulated physiological channels apply direct physical actuation to the corresponding sensors. The validation of the EET demonstrated high accuracy and repeatability of the simulated physiological signals.