REAL TIME MONITORING SYSTEM FOR HUMAN BODY TEMPERATURE SIGNAL USING LABVIEW

Prabhjot Kaur, Post Graduate Student, Electrical Engineering Department, NITTTR, Chandigarh Lini Mathew, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering Department, NITTTR, Chandigarh

International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology (IJACT)

Abstract
This paper presents the design and development of an algorithm for measuring human body temperature. The objective of the proposed work is to display the surface temperature of the human body. Vernier Surface Temperature Sensor provided by National Instruments is employed for acquiring the human body temperature. The sensor is interfaced with the computer using NI ELVIS prototype board. The output of the sensor is processed using LabVIEW software and is displayed on the computer screen. The temperature output from the sensor displays the condition of the human body by means of an indicator using LabVIEW. It is green when the output is within healthy conditions and is red when it goes beyond the normal range or limits. The sensor is also calibrated using standard thermometer and when compared to existing systems, it was found that the developed algorithm measures the body temperature accurately. Keywords: Vernier Surface Temperature Sensor, NI ELVIS prototype Board, NI LabVIEW.

Globally, temperature is measured in two units and they are Celsius and Fahrenheit. The normal body temperature of a healthy human being is stated to be at 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit or 37.0 degrees Celsius. When the human body temperature rises above the normal temperature scale, the condition is said to be abnormal and the patient is suffering from Hyperthermia. On the other hand, Hypothermia is the condition when the body temperature falls below the normal temperature range. The normal range of human body temperature is affected by the time of day or the part of the body in which the temperature is measured at. In the morning, the body temperature is lower due to the rest the body received, and it is higher at night, after a day of muscular activity and after food intake also it is on higher side [1]. In this paper the investigators discuss the aspects of acquisition of body temperature and the monitoring and analysis using LabVIEW. The paper is organized in the following manner: after introduction, a brief description on hardware used is given in Section-A. The software used in the proposed work is presented in Section-B with slight overview of methodology adopted in Section-C. Section-D and Section-E deals with the results and conclusion respectively, followed by references and bibliographies.

Introduction
Computer based signal acquisition, processing and analysis using LabVIEW, a graphical programming language, have been greatly used in many engineering applications. With the increasing performance of the personal computer, computer based signal acquisition and analysis became an efficient and cost effective method of patient physiological signal acquisition and monitoring. In biomedical engineering, real time monitoring plays an important role. Many software packages are available for the acquisition and display of electrical signals in general. Among them LabVIEW, provided by National Instruments, is one of the most popular and powerful tools available [4]. The use of LabVIEW in biomedical, helps in improving the performance, reliability and flexibility of the real time monitor systems. Human body temperature varies within a narrow range of values. There are different ways to measure the temperature of our body. The most common methods are skin surface measurements, oral measurements, armpit measurements, rectal measurements.

A. Hardware
The hardware used in the present work includes NI ELVIS prototype board, the Vernier Bio-medical Surface Temperature Sensor, Vernier Analog Proto Board Connector, AC/DC power supply, High-speed USB 2.0 cable, wires to build circuit and the laptop. NI ELVIS Prototype Board - The Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (ELVIS) is a prototyping board produced by National Instruments (NI). It is basically designed to provide functionality or to simulate several pieces of electronic laboratory equipment. It is a single, integrated system that combines hardware and software into one complete laboratory suite. It is connected to PC through USB port and hence provides quick and easy acquisition and display of measurements. Based on NI LabVIEW graphical system design software, NI ELVIS offers flexibility of virtual instrumentation and the ability of customizing any application. The entire NI ELVIS system is built on top of NI

REAL TIME MONITORING SYSTEM FOR HUMAN BODY TEMPERATURE SIGNAL USING LABVIEW

International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology (IJACT)

LabVIEW software and hardware, and comprises of three main components [10] as shown in Figure 1. Software - NI ELVISmx is the software that supports NI ELVIS hardware. It is created in LabVIEW and provides a graphical interface for several electronic instruments. DAQ card - The data acquisition board is the interface between PC and the Bench-top workstation. This board has both analog and digital input and output lines. Bench-top workstation - The bench-top workstation provides easy-to-operate knobs for the variable power supplies and offers electrical connections for the user to interface with circuits.
Figure 3. Vernier Surface Temperature Sensor

can range from 97.8 F, (equivalent to 36.5 C) to 99 F (37.2 C) for a healthy adult. Vernier Surface Temperature Sensor shown in Figure 3 [12] is used for measuring skin temperature, which consists of a thermistor.

While body temperature monitoring, medical professionals has to look for the following abnormalities listed in the Table 1.
Table 1. Body Temperature Abnormalities

Sr.No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Body Temperature 97.799.5 F (36.5 37.5 C) 99.5100.9 F (>37.538.3 C) 95.0 F ( <35.0 C) 99.5100.9 F (>37.538.3 C) 104106.7 F (>40.041.5 C)

Figure 1. NI ELVIS system

The NI ELVIS II+ prototype board is shown in Figure 2.

Classification/ Abnormality Normal Fever Hypothermia Hyperthermia Hyperpyrexia

B. Software Used
The software used for acquiring, monitoring and displaying the biomedical signal was NI LabVIEW. LabVIEW is a graphical programming language that uses icons instead of lines of text to create applications. It is a general purpose programming language also known as G programming language. In contrast to text based programming language, where instructions determine program execution, LabVIEW uses data flow programming, where the flow of data determines execution. The LabVIEW software is used as the integrating platform for acquiring, processing and transmitting the physiological data [11]. Signal Acquisition - The sensor which was used to acquire human body temperature was connected to laptop having a LabVIEW platform through a DAQ device interfaced through an ELVIS prototyping board having analog and digital input/output channels. The biomedical signals acquired from the human body are extremely small in amplitude, of

Figure 2. NI ELVIS II+ Prototype board

Vernier Body Temperature Sensor - The body temperature is defined as the hotness or coldness of the body. It provides the health status of a human body. It is a measure of the body's ability to generate and get rid of heat. Heat is generated within the body through metabolism of nutrients and lost from the body surface through radiation, convection, and evaporation or perspiration. Normal body temperature

REAL TIME MONITORING SYSTEM FOR HUMAN BODY TEMPERATURE SIGNAL USING LABVIEW

International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology (IJACT)

ten in the millivolt range, and hence these signals require processing before they can be analyzed. LabVIEW contains the tools, from fast Fourier Transforms (FFTs) to digital filters, to perform the job. In addition, biomedical signals are prone to noise. So it becomes necessary to run the acquired signal through a set of digital filters. LabVIEW offers the choice of Butterworth, Bessel, Chebyshev, and Chebyshev II digital filters. With a few adjustments, these filters can be configured for almost any design that is needed. Signal Analysis/Display - Personal Computer based patient monitoring system has to provide the ability to analyze and display the desired biomedical signals [4]. LabVIEW can display any acquired or processed data we are having on the block diagram. It is having full control over what we make visible to the user on the front panel, and which parts of the application we keep to the block diagram source code. NI LabVIEW contains a collection of drag-and-drop controls and indicators which helps in creating user interfaces more quickly and easily. LabVIEWs front panel design is totally graphical, with the programmer just using common drag and drop methods to place graphs, indicators, buttons, etc. anywhere on the screen. The front panel consists of a button which is used to select the channel of NI ELVIS to which the sensor is interfaced, one chart display for visualizing the temperature of human body and four square LEDs as indicators to analyze the temperature value. The indicator shows green light when the measured temperature is in the normal range and it shows red light when the temperature goes beyond the normal range. The acquired temperature was shown in both the units i.e., in Fahrenheit and in Celsius. The waveform showing the variations in the body temperature is also shown in Figure 4. The readings that are taken during the measurement of patient body temperature are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. Body Temperature Readings

Sr. No. Subject 1 Subject 2 Subject 3 Subject 4 Subject 5

Temperature in F 96.44 96.08 97.2 94.9 100.01

Temperature in C 35.8 35.6 36.22 34.94 37.78

Analysis Normal Normal Normal Hypothermia Fever

C. Methodology Adopted
In this case, the patient is allowed to hold the tip of the Vernier surface temperature sensor i.e. the thermistor part of the probe in his hands. The signal corresponding to temperature from the temperature sensor is fed to the NI ELVIS channel ACH0+. The DAQmx tool in LabVIEW was used to accept the inputs from the NI ELVIS. The whole data was then displayed on the front panel design of the LabVIEW using numerical and graphical indicators. The front panel of the Body Temperature Monitoring System is shown in Fig.4. The front panel also contains indictors to display the condition of the patients health.

The comparison between clinical thermometer and Vernier body temperature sensor measurements are shown in Table 3. Here measurements are taken on five subjects (patients) first by using clinical thermometer and then by using Vernier sensor.
Table 3. Comparison between clinical thermometer and Vernier body temperature sensor measurements

Sr. No. Subject 1 Subject 2 Subject 3 Subject 4 Subject 5

Clinical Thermometer (F) 96.8 96.62 97.2 95.3 100.39

Vernier Sensor (F) 96.44 96.08 97.1 94.9 100.01

% Error 0.373 % 0.562 % 0.102 % 0.421 % 0.379 %

The percentage error in each measurement for every subject has been calculated. The average percentage error for body temperature has found out to be within prescribed limits. The average percentage (%) error for body temperature = [{0.373 + 0.562 + 0.102 + 0.421 + 0.379}/5] = 0.3674%
Figure 4. Body Temperature Monitoring System

REAL TIME MONITORING SYSTEM FOR HUMAN BODY TEMPERATURE SIGNAL USING LABVIEW

International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology (IJACT)

The comparative analysis chart and the associate figures between the clinical thermometer and the Vernier sensor for human body temperature measurements are shown in Figure 5. LabVIEW. Real time monitoring systems for other physiological parameters such as ECG, Blood Pressure, and Heart Rate are also in the future research purview of the investigator.

102 100 98 96 94
Figure 5. Comparative Analysis between Clinical Thermometer and the Vernier Sensor for Human Body Temperature Measurement

References
[1] Santhosh K V and Gopaliah, A Low Cost Human Body Parameters Measuring Device, International Conference on Computing and Control Engineering Clinical (ICCCE), Apr 2012, Chennai, TamilNadu, India. [2] Bhavin Mehta, Divya Rengarajan and Ankit Prasad, Thermometer Real Time Patient Tele-monitoring System Using LabVIEW, International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research (IJSER) , Volume 3, Issue 4, April-2012. Vernier [3] Patterson Casmir DMello and Sandra DSouza, DeSensor sign and development of a Virtual Instrument for Bio-signal Acquisition and Processing using LabVIEW, International Journal of Advanced Research in Electrical, Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering (IJAREEIE), Vol. 1, Issue 1, July 2012. [4] Brad Grinstead and M.E. Parten, Biomedical Signal Acquisition Using LabVIEW, Proceedings of 11th IEEE Symposium on Computer-Based Medical Systems, 1998, Lubbock, TX, USA. [5] Duarte Pereira, Adriano Moreira and Ricardo Simoes, Challenges on Real-Time Monitoring of Patients Through the Internet, 5th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI), June 2010, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. [6] Mashhour M. Bani Amer, Yasser Qtait, Lina AlEbbini, Sammer Ammary and Maher Awwad, Design of a User-Friendly LabVIEW-based toolbox for Real-Time Monitoring and Diagnosis of Vital Signals, International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics (IJMEI), Vol. 2, No. 3, Jan 2010. [7] National Instruments, LabVIEW Measurements Manual, July 2000 Edition. [8] National Instruments, Data Acquisition Basics Manual, Jan.1998 Edition. [9] National Instruments, NI Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite II Series (NI ELVISTM II Series) User Manual, June 2011. [10] Colbin Erdahl, A Guide to Using the NI ELVIS System user manual, The University of Iowa, 2006. [11] www.ni.com [12] www.vernier.com

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So it is clear from the above analysis that the percentage error in body temperature measurements using Vernier temperature sensor is 0.3674 % which is very minimum.

D. Results
The developed LabVIEW based algorithm was validated using standard clinical thermometers. This monitoring system can be used to acquire the patient temperature in real time and in comparison to existing systems; it was found that the developed algorithm measures the body temperature accurately and the analysis was performed very quickly. It also generates alarm at the same time in case of abnormal conditions. Moreover, the analysis of the biomedical signals was easily done in LabVIEW. While acquiring the signal, it gets recorded in the system whereas this facility is not available with a normal clinical thermometer.

E. Conclusion
This paper introduces a user-friendly LabVIEW-based algorithm suitable for acquiring, monitoring and diagnosis of body temperature. The designed algorithm has the potential to provide reliable and safe diagnosis of various diseases. It is also provided with audio and visual alerts on the development of abnormal conditions. The online monitoring and diagnosis of the patients body temperature can be easily done using this monitoring system. In addition, due to the ease of use of this software, it can be easily adapted by all physicians who are having less or even no experience in

REAL TIME MONITORING SYSTEM FOR HUMAN BODY TEMPERATURE SIGNAL USING LABVIEW

International Journal of Advanced Computer Technology (IJACT)

Biographies
PRABHJOT KAUR is a Post Graduate student in Electrical Engineering Department of National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chandigarh, India. She received the B-Tech degree in Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering from the Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar, Punjab. She has approximately 4 years of research experience in Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIOCSIR), Chandigarh, India. e-mail address - er.prabhjot18@gmail.com DR. (MRS.) LINI MATHEW is presently working as Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department of National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research, Chandigarh, India. She holds a Bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from Kerala University, and Masters and Ph.D from Panjab University. She has 28 years of experience out of which 2 years are of industrial and the rest of teaching. She has guided more than 50 Masters degree thesis and has more than 50 articles in her credit. Her areas of specialization are Digital Signal Processing, Power Systems, ANN and Fuzzy Logic, Virtual Instrumentation, MATLAB etc. e-mail address - lenimathew@yahoo.com

REAL TIME MONITORING SYSTEM FOR HUMAN BODY TEMPERATURE SIGNAL USING LABVIEW