1.

(a)
(i)The action potential is an all-or-none phenomenon. This means the cycle that generates the
action potential always goes to completion once that it is triggered. The signal remains the same
from cell to cell. 2’
(ii) The pump has a higher affinity for Na⁺ ions than K⁺ ions. For every ATP molecule that the
pump uses, three sodium ions are exported and two potassium ions are imported 2’. Thus, there
is a net export of a single positive charge per pump cycle, which is quite important to keep
polarization and become repolarization and consume lots of energy to keep normal life. 1’
(iii) There are ion pumps and ion channels in the membrane of nerve and muscle cells, and they
can be stimulated by electrical or chemical signals to form action potential. 1’
Different from muscle fiber, the waveform of action potential for nerve fiber doesn’t have a
plateau after depolarization. Because there exists opening of voltage-gated slow calcium
channels during the tissue contraction in muscle fibers while in nerve fibers not. 1’

(b)
(i) A motor unit is the smallest functional unit to describe the neural control of the muscular
contraction process. It is made up of a motor neuron and the skeletal muscle fibers innervated by
that motor neuron’s axonal terminals. (The sketch is shown below) 1’
 1’
(ii) The EMG signal is a biomedical signal that measures electrical currents generated in muscles
during its contraction representing neuromuscular activities. While the ECG is from uniform
activity of muscle fibers, the functioning muscle in EMG is not in a uniform organization. 1’Many
different parts react at the same time and the collected signal is the superstition of activities of
multiple motor units. Therefore, the EMG signal is stochastic and high-frequency. 1’

(c)
(1) Potential amplitude decays with the distance between heart and probe. Closer to the heart makes
the signal intensity higher. 1’
(2) The contact of electrode is better and the noise is lower. 1’

(d)
(i) Electrical isolation is the separation between two circuits that restricts the direct current (DC)
and any unwanted alternating current (AC) in a power supply. The isolation prevents dangerous
voltages from passing to the operator in the event of an electrical fault/failure or during a surge
from lightning. 1’
(ii) An opto-isolator is an electronic component that transfers electrical signals between two
isolated circuits by using light. Opto-isolators prevent high voltages from affecting the system
receiving the signal. A common type of opto-isolator consists of an LED and a phototransistor in
the same opaque package. 0.5’
 (0.5)

(e)
(i) 2’

(ii) 2’
(f)
(i) 1’
An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test used to evaluate the electrical activity in the brain.
Brain cells communicate with each other through electrical impulses, and an EEG can be used to
help detect potential problems associated with th is activity.
Evoked potential (EP) tests measure the electrical activity of the brain in response to stimulation
of specific sensory nerve pathways. They can detect the slowing of electrical conduction caused
by damage (demyelination) along these pathways, even when the change is too subtle to be
noticed by the person, or too subtle show up on neurologic examination.
(ii) 2’

(iii) 1’
BEAR is the hardest because it needs the greatest number of trials to get signal with enough
quality.
ERP>VER>BEAR>SEP
EEG frequency: delta (0.5 to 4Hz); theta (4 to 7Hz); alpha (8 to 12Hz); sigma (12 to 16Hz) and
beta (13 to 30Hz). Frequency range covers 0.5Hz~30Hz.
Therefore, ERP covers all frequencies. VER covers most of frequencies and has 3dB loss. BEAR
covers less frequencies and has 3dB loss. SEP covers even less frequencies and has 6dB loss.

Q2
(a)
(i) 1’

The spurting blood from the compressed brachial artery produces turbulence and vibrations
within the vessel which creates noises known as Korotkoff sounds. A stethoscope detects the
sounds as the cuff pressure decreases to certain level, the Korotkoff sounds finally disappear
with the restoration of laminar flow of blood in the brachial artery.
(ii) 2’

Phase I. -The first sounds detectable when the falling cuff pressure is slightly below the systolic
pressure. These sounds are soft at the start, then they rapidly increase in intensity. They are
detected over a range of 10 to 15mm Hg as the cuff is deflated. Systolic pressure is considered to
bethe level at which phase I Korotkoff sounds are initially heard.
Phase II. -This phase begins when a murmur-like sound occurs. These sounds may quickly fade
and occasionally may be transiently undetectable as the cuff pressure decreases, creating an
‘auscultatorygap,’ or silent period. The examiner may miss this gap if the cuff is not sufficiently
inflated to obliterate the pulses. This could result in a falsely low systolic pressure reading. The
pressure range of phase II Korotkoff sounds is 15 to 20 mm Hg.
Phase III. -The Korotkoff sounds take on a 'thumping' quality and are at their loudest.
Phase IV. -The pitch and intensity of the sounds change abruptly, taking on a muffled tone. This
typically occurs at a slightly higher arterial pressure than true diastolic pressure.
Phase V. -As the cuff pressure continues to decrease, the sounds disappear completely. The point
of disappearance of the sounds is phase V, which usually occurs at a level slightly below true
intravascular diastolic pressure.
(b)
(i) 2’
This experiment is done by measuring the PPG and ECG simultaneously and calculate the time
delay between the two signals, which is the transit time. By measuring the distance between the
finger tips and heart, and divide it with the transit time, the velocity can be calculated.

(ii) 2’

By measuring the flow speed through ECG and PPG signal, the pressure can be calculated
through Bernoulli's principle.

(c)
(i) 2’
Newtonian fluids are those that obey Newton's law of constant viscosity. viscosity remains
unaffected by flow rate.
Non-Newtonian fluids are fluids that do not have constant viscosity and have a variable
relationship with shear stress. viscosity is a function of the flow condition. 1
Blood viscosity is determined by plasma viscosity, hematocrit (volume fraction of red blood cell,
which constitute 99.9% of the cellular elements) and mechanical properties of red blood cells.
Blood is essentially a suspension of particles (blood cells) in a watery liquid (plasma), so blood
is a non-Newtonian fluid. 1

(ii）1.5’

Laminar flows are smooth and streamlined, whereas turbulent flows are irregular and chaotic.
(iii) 2’
Whether there is a turbulent flow occurs can be decided by the Reynolds' number (Re). If Re
exceeds 200, turbulent flow begins at the points where branches occur in tubes. If Re exceeds
2000, flow will be turbulent even in smooth, straight tubes. In aortic arch and pulmonary arteries:
Re ~ several thousands. In the large arteries: Re ~ several hundreds. So the blood flow in large
arteries is turbulent and the blood flow in small arteries is mainly considered laminar flow.

(d)
(i) 2’
Piezoelectric Effect is the ability of certain materials to generate an electric charge in response to
applied mechanical stress. 1
The transducer: Generation of ultrasound wave: a piezoelectric material converts power from
electric to acoustic form when AC voltage applied.
The ultrasound sensor or receiver: Generation of voltage signal when pressure is applied: a
piezoelectric material converts power from acoustic to electric form. 1

(ii) 0.5’
Power decays exponentially as the increasing of the depth due to the tissue absorption. The
absorption coefficient is proportional to frequency. Power scattered back from the moving red
cells in the blood stream is proportional to 𝑓 4 . So there is a trade-off.

(iii) 1’
The PA probe consists of many small ultrasonic transducers, each of which can be pulsed
independently. By varying the timing, for instance by making the pulse from each transducer
progressively delayed going up the line, a pattern of constructive interference is set up that
results in radiating a quasi-plane ultrasonic beam at a set angle depending on the progressive
time delay. By changing the progressive time delay the beam can be steered electronically. It can
be swept like a search-light through the tissue or object being examined, and the data from
multiple beams are put together to make a visual image showing a slice through the object.
(e)
(i) 2’
The doppler effect

𝑓𝑟 𝑓𝑠
=
𝑐 − 𝑣𝑟 𝑐 − 𝑣𝑠
𝑉𝑠 −𝑉𝑟
So the doppler shift is 𝑓𝐷 = 𝑓𝑟 − 𝑓𝑠 = 𝑓𝑠 1
𝑐 −𝑉𝑠
 2𝑉 𝑓𝐷 𝑐
So 𝑓𝐷 = − 𝑐+𝑉𝑖 𝑓𝑠 , 𝑉𝑖 = −
𝑖 2𝑓

Now consider the angle:

𝑓𝐷 𝑐 𝐷 𝑓 𝑐
𝑉𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = − , 𝑉𝑖 = − 2𝑓𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃
2𝑓

𝑓𝑟 𝑓𝑠
=
𝑐 − 𝑉𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑟 𝑐 − 𝑉𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑠
𝑉𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑠 − 𝑉𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑟 𝑐 − 𝑉𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑟 𝑐
𝑓𝐷 = 𝑓𝑟 − 𝑓𝑠 = 𝑓𝑟 , 𝑓𝑟 = , 𝑓=
𝑐 − 𝑉𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑟 𝜆 𝜆
𝑓 𝑐
So 𝑉𝑖 = − 2𝑓 (𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝐷+𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 1
𝑠 𝑟)

(ii) 1’
1. Tumbling of cells and local velocities resulting from turbulence cause different Doppler-
frequency shifts
2. Velocity profiles are rarely blunt, with all cells moving at the same velocity. Rather, cells
move at different velocities, producing different shifts of the Doppler frequency.
3. A given cell remains within the beam-intersection volume for a short time. Thus the signal
received from one cell is a pure frequency multiplied by some time-gate function, yielding a
band of frequencies.
4. Acoustic energy traveling within the main beam, but at angles to the beam axis, plus energy
in the side lobes, causes different Doppler-frequency shifts due to an effective change in θ.
5. The instrument can not provide the direction of blood flow.
6. Too expensive

(f) 3’

The blood flow can be assumed as laminar flow and approximately described with a parabolic
blood velocity profile across the vessel:

 r 
2
Where V (r ) = Vmax 1 −   .
  r0  
 
𝑓 𝑐 𝑉2𝑓 ( 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑠 +𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑟 )
So 𝑉𝑖 = − 2𝑓 (𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝐷+𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 ) , 𝑓𝐷 = − 𝑐
𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = 100𝑐𝑚/𝑠, 𝜃𝑠 = 30, 𝜃𝑟 = 45, 𝑟 =
𝑠 𝑟
2.5𝑚𝑚, 𝑐 = 1500𝑚/𝑠, 𝑓 = 7.5𝑀ℎ𝑧

So
2𝑓 ( 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑠 +𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑟 ) 3.146𝑓
𝑓𝐷 _𝑚𝑎𝑥 = −𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 = = 15.7𝑘𝐻𝑧 1
𝑐 𝑐

2𝑓 ( 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑠 +𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑟 ) 𝑟 2
𝑓𝐷_𝑚𝑖𝑛 = −𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑛 , since𝑉𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 [1 − (𝑟 ) ] = 0, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑟 = 𝑟𝑜 , 𝑓𝐷_𝑚𝑖𝑛 = 01
𝑐 𝑜
 1 𝑟 𝑟 2 −2𝑓 ( 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑠 +𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑟 ) 1 2𝑓 ( 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑠 +𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑟 ) 1.045𝑓
𝑓𝐷𝑚𝑒𝑎 𝑛 =
2𝑟0
∫−𝑟0 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥 [1 − (𝑟 ) ] 𝑐
= − 𝑉𝑚𝑎𝑥
3 𝑐
=
𝑐
=
0 𝑜
5.24𝑘𝐻𝑧 1

Q3
(a)
(i) 2’
Blood carries O2 in two forms: dissolved in the plasma (<2%) and attached or bound to
hemoglobin (>98%). 1’

CO2 : dissolved in the plasma (right part of the figure) 1’

(ii) 1.5’
Our body must maintain the fluid balance 0.5 and avoid large change of substance concentration.
Firstly, our body should leave a margin for the circulation system to ensure our cells’ survival
without oxygen for a short time. Besides, CO2 can act as a buffer to maintain the pH balance of
plasma, which means there must be a large amount in blood.
(b) 2’
(c)
(i) 1’
The signal at 660 nm is very sensitive to the oxygen saturation.
The ratio of 660/805 nm can be used to obtain the reliable oxygen saturation of blood in tissue.
(ii) 1.5’
450 and 480nm (others also ok). The molar excitation coefficient difference is not as large as
660/805, and the shorter the wavelength, the stronger the scattering, which means the signal is
weaker.