Body Sensor Networking, Design and Algorithms

2Physical, Physiological, Biological, and Behavioural States of the Human Body

2.1 Introduction

The identification and measurement of human body biomarkers is a major goal in clinical diagnosis and disease monitoring. Nevertheless, prior to any measurement, advances in medical science to a large extent help in the recognition of abnormalities by looking at the symptoms and peripheral information. As an example, a number of procedures and measurements are needed to find out if the tiny medial temporal discharges originating within the hippocampus indicate any impending seizure. These clinical operations may involve imaging of the head using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), taking multichannel electroencephalography (EEG) or magnetoencephalography (MEG) from the scalp, observing a patient's behaviour and movement for a substantial period of time, implanting subdural electrodes within the patient's brain, and checking their biological and even psychological reactions.

This chapter elaborates on the most popular physical, physiological, biological, and behavioural symptoms; abnormalities; and diseases which mostly can be measured and quantified by means of multiple body sensors.

2.2 Physical State of the Human Body

In addition to the simple and obvious characteristics to describe a person, such as what they look like, their geometry, hair, and skin colour, there are additional attributes and perhaps more demanding factors in terms of their quantification such as those used in ...