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SensorTerminology
PublishDate:Sep23,2013

Overview

ThistutorialispartoftheNationalInstrumentsMeasurementFundamentalsseries.Each
tutorialinthisseries,willteachyouaspecifictopicofcommonmeasurementapplications,by
explainingthetheoryandgivingpracticalexamples.Thistutorialwillcoversensorsandthe
terminologyassociatedwiththem.Forthecompletelistoftutorials,returntotheNI
MeasurementFundamentalsMainpage.
TableofContents

1. Sensitivity
2. Range
3. Precision
4. Resolution
5. Accuracy
6. Offset
7. Linearity
8. Hysteresis
9. ResponseTime
10. DynamicLinearity
1.Sensitivity

Thesensitivityofthesensorisdefinedastheslopeoftheoutputcharacteristiccurve(DY/DX
inFigure1)or,moregenerally,theminimuminputofphysicalparameterthatwillcreatea
detectableoutputchange.Insomesensors,thesensitivityisdefinedastheinputparameter
changerequiredtoproduceastandardizedoutputchange.Inothers,itisdefinedasan
outputvoltagechangeforagivenchangeininputparameter.Forexample,atypicalblood
pressuretransducermayhaveasensitivityratingof
10mV/V/mmHgthatis,therewillbea10mVoutputvoltageforeachvoltofexcitation
potentialandeachmmHgofappliedpressure.
SensitivityError
Thesensitivityerror(shownasadottedcurveinFigure1)isadeparturefromtheidealslope
ofthecharacteristiccurve.Forexample,thepressuretransducerdiscussedabovemayhave
anactualsensitivityof7.8mV/V/mmHginsteadof10mV/V/mmHg.
2.Range

Therangeofthesensoristhemaximumandminimumvaluesofappliedparameterthatcan
bemeasured.Forexample,agivenpressuresensormayhavearangeof400to+400mm
Hg.Alternatively,thepositiveandnegativerangesoftenareunequal.Forexample,acertain
medicalbloodpressuretransducerisspecifiedtohaveaminimum(vacuum)limitof50mm
Hg(YmininFigure1)andamaximum(pressure)limitof+450mmHg(YmaxinFigure1).
Thisspecificationiscommon,incidentally,andisonereasondoctorsandnursessometimes
destroybloodpressuresensorswhenattemptingtodrawbloodthroughanarterialline
withoutbeingmindfulofthepositionofthefluidstopcocksinthesystem.Asmallsyringecan
exertatremendousvacuumonaclosedsystem.

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Figure1.Idealcurveandsensitivityerror.Source:J.J.Carr,SensorsandCircuits
PrenticeHall.
DynamicRange
Thedynamicrangeisthetotalrangeofthesensorfromminimumtomaximum.Thatis,in
termsofFigure1,Rdyn=YmaxlYminl.
3.Precision

Theconceptofprecisionreferstothedegreeofreproducibilityofameasurement.Inother
words,ifexactlythesamevalueweremeasuredanumberoftimes,anidealsensorwould
outputexactlythesamevalueeverytime.Butrealsensorsoutputarangeofvalues
distributedinsomemannerrelativetotheactualcorrectvalue.Forexample,supposea
pressureofexactly150mmHgisappliedtoasensor.Eveniftheappliedpressurenever
changes,theoutputvaluesfromthesensorwillvaryconsiderably.Somesubtleproblems
ariseinthematterofprecisionwhenthetruevalueandthesensor'smeanvaluearenot
withinacertaindistanceofeachother
(e.g.,the1srangeofthenormaldistributioncurve).
4.Resolution

Thisspecificationisthesmallestdetectableincrementalchangeofinputparameterthatcan
bedetectedintheoutputsignal.Resolutioncanbeexpressedeitherasaproportionofthe
reading(orthefullscalereading)orinabsoluteterms.
5.Accuracy

Theaccuracyofthesensoristhemaximumdifferencethatwillexistbetweentheactual
value(whichmustbemeasuredbyaprimaryorgoodsecondarystandard)andtheindicated
valueattheoutputofthesensor.Again,theaccuracycanbeexpressedeitherasa
percentageoffullscaleorinabsoluteterms.
6.Offset

Theoffseterrorofatransducerisdefinedastheoutputthatwillexistwhenitshouldbezero
or,alternatively,thedifferencebetweentheactualoutputvalueandthespecifiedoutput
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valueundersomeparticularsetofconditions.Anexampleofthefirstsituationintermsof
Figure1wouldexistifthecharacteristiccurvehadthesamesensitivityslopeastheidealbut
crossedtheYaxis(output)atbinsteadofzero.Anexampleoftheotherformofoffsetis
seeninthecharacteristiccurveofapHelectrodeshowninFigure2.Theidealcurvewill
existonlyatonetemperature(usually25C),whiletheactualcurvewillbebetweenthe
minimumtemperatureandmaximumtemperaturelimitsdependingonthetemperatureofthe
sampleandelectrode.

Figure2.TypicalpHelectrodecharacteristiccurveshowingtemperaturesensitivity.
Source:J.J.Carr,SensorsandCircuitsPrenticeHall.
7.Linearity

Thelinearityofthetransducerisanexpressionoftheextenttowhichtheactualmeasured
curveofasensordepartsfromtheidealcurve.Figure3showsasomewhatexaggerated
relationshipbetweentheideal,orleastsquaresfit,lineandtheactualmeasuredor
calibrationline(Noteinmostcases,thestaticcurveisusedtodeterminelinearity,andthis
maydeviatesomewhatfromadynamiclinearity)Linearityisoftenspecifiedintermsof
percentageofnonlinearity,whichisdefinedas:

where
Nonlinearity(%)isthepercentageofnonlinearity
Din(max)isthemaximuminputdeviation
INf.s.isthemaximum,fullscaleinput
ThestaticnonlinearitydefinedbyEquation61isoftensubjecttoenvironmentalfactors,
includingtemperature,vibration,acousticnoiselevel,andhumidity.Itisimportanttoknow
underwhatconditionsthespecificationisvalidanddeparturesfromthoseconditionsmay
notyieldlinearchangesoflinearity.
8.Hysteresis

Atransducershouldbecapableoffollowingthechangesoftheinputparameterregardless
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ofwhichdirectionthechangeismadehysteresisisthemeasureofthisproperty.Figure4
showsatypicalhysteresiscurve.Notethatitmattersfromwhichdirectionthechangeis
made.Approachingafixedinputvalue(pointBinFigure4)fromahighervalue(pointP)will
resultinadifferentindicationthanapproachingthesamevaluefromalesservalue(pointQ
orzero).NotethatinputvalueBcanberepresentedbyF(X)1,F(X)2,orF(X)3dependingon
theimmediatepreviousvalueclearlyanerrorduetohysteresis.

Figure3.Idealversusmeasuredcurveshowinglinearityerror.Source:JJCarr,
SensorsandCircuitsPrenticeHall

Figure4.Hysteresiscurve.Source:J.J.Carr,SensorsandCircuitsPrenticeHall.

9.ResponseTime

Sensorsdonotchangeoutputstateimmediatelywhenaninputparameterchangeoccurs.
Rather,itwillchangetothenewstateoveraperiodoftime,calledtheresponsetime(Trin
Figure5).Theresponsetimecanbedefinedasthetimerequiredforasensoroutputto
changefromitspreviousstatetoafinalsettledvaluewithinatolerancebandofthecorrect
newvalue.Thisconceptissomewhatdifferentfromthenotionofthetimeconstant(T)ofthe
system.Thistermcanbedefinedinamannersimilartothatforacapacitorchargingthrough
aresistanceandisusuallylessthantheresponsetime.
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ThecurvesinFigure5showtwotypesofresponsetime.InFigure5athecurverepresents
theresponsetimefollowinganabruptpositivegoingstepfunctionchangeoftheinput
parameter.TheformshowninFigure5bisadecaytime(TdtodistinguishfromTr,forthey
arenotalwaysthesame)inresponsetoanegativegoingstepfunctionchangeoftheinput
parameter.

Figure5.(a)Risetimedefinition(b)falltimedefinition.Source:J.J.Carr,Sensorsand
CircuitsPrenticeHall.

10.DynamicLinearity

Thedynamiclinearityofthesensorisameasureofitsabilitytofollowrapidchangesinthe
inputparameter.Amplitudedistortioncharacteristics,phasedistortioncharacteristics,and
responsetimeareimportantindeterminingdynamiclinearity.Givenasystemoflow
hysteresis(alwaysdesirable),theamplituderesponseisrepresentedby:
F(X)=aX+bX2+cX3
+dX4++K(62)
InEquation62,thetermF(X)istheoutputsignal,whiletheXtermsrepresenttheinput
parameteranditsharmonics,andKisanoffsetconstant(ifany).Theharmonicsbecome
especiallyimportantwhentheerrorharmonicsgeneratedbythesensoractionfallintothe
samefrequencybandsasthenaturalharmonicsproducedbythedynamicactionoftheinput
parameter.AllcontinuouswaveformsarerepresentedbyaFourierseriesofafundamental
sinewaveanditsharmonics.Inanynonsinusoidalwaveform(includingtimevaryingchanges
ofaphysicalparameter).Harmonicspresentwillbethatcanbeaffectedbytheactionofthe
sensor.

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Figure6.Outputversusinputsignalcurvesshowing(a)quadraticerror(b)cubic
error.Source:J.J.Carr,SensorsandCircuitsPrenticeHall.
Thenatureofthenonlinearityofthecalibrationcurve(Figure6)tellsomethingaboutwhich
harmonicsarepresent.InFigure6a,thecalibrationcurve(shownasadottedline)is
asymmetrical,soonlyoddharmonictermsexist.AssumingaformfortheidealcurveofF(x)
=mx+K,Equation62becomesforthesymmetricalcase:
F(X)=aX+bX2+cX4++K(63)
Intheothertypeofcalibrationcurve(Figure6b),theindicatedvaluesaresymmetricalabout
theidealmx+Kcurve.Inthiscase,F(X)=F(X),andtheformofEquation62is:
F(X)=aX+bX3+cX5++K(64)
Nowwewilltakealookatsomeofthetacticsandsignalsprocessingcriteriathatcanbe
adaptedtobiomedicalapplicationstoimprovethenatureofthedatacollectedfromthe
sensor.

BuytheBook

PublicationInformation
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Author:JosephJ.CarrJohnM.Brown

Book:IntroductiontoBiomedicalEquipment
Technology,ThirdEdition

Copyright:1998

ISBN:0138494312

PurchaseIntroductiontoBiomedicalEquipmentTechnology,ThirdEditionfromPrenticeHall

LegalNote
ExcerptfromthebookpublishedbyPrenticeHallProfessional(http://www.phptr.com).CopyrightPrenticeHallInc.2006.Allrightsreserved.

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