Virtual instrumentation

In order to be able to reduce prices, even more and more test- and measurement systems are integrated on PC-boards. The powerful and inexpensive PC eomponents can be directly u.sed for these (virtual) instruments. The limited dimensions of the PC boards require a reduction to the absolute necessity of the electronic components. Analogue signal proeessing must carried out by software as far as possible. 

Physical models of musical instruments promise the highest quality in imitating natural instruments. Because the virtual instrument can have the same control... 

Koliopoulos, T.C. 2009a. An efficient image processing software in geoinformatics and quality assurance of sustainable development projects. In Remote Engineering and Virtual Instrumentation International Conference Proceedings, pp. 142-47. Connecticut Bridgeport University. 

LabVIEW Front Panel display (top) of photomultiplier count rate in counts per second (cps) and block diagram (bottom) for a Virtual Instrument (VI) that measures this. The VI is used to count scattered photons using a counter (ctrO) on a National Instruments M622at PC board and is useful in optimizing die imaging optics and for ensuring adequate count levels for the experiment. 

LabVIEW Front Panel display of g/function (top) and block diagram (bottom) for a Virtual Instrument (VI) for dynamic light scattering measurements. 

Bhat, S. A. (2007). On-line optimizing control of bulk free radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate in a batch reactor using virtual instrumentation, Ph.D. Thesis, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, 146 pages. 

PDEIS is a new technique based on fast measurements of the interfacial impedance with the virtual instruments [3] that benefits from the efficient synchronization of direct hardware control and data processing in the real-time data acquisition and control [4], The built-in EEC fitting engine of the virtual spectrometer divided the total electrochemical response into its constituents those result from different processes. Thus, just in the electrochemical experiment, we come from the mountains of raw data to the characteristics of the constituent processes - the potential dependencies of the electric double layer capacitance, charge transfer resistance, impedance of diffusion, adsorption, etc. The power of this approach results from different frequency and potential dependencies of the constituent responses. Because of the uniqueness of each UPD system and complex electrochemical response dependence on the frequency and electrode potential, the transition from the PDEIS spectrum (Nyquist or Bode plot expanded to the 3D plot... 

Salah, R. M., Alves, G. R., Guerreiro, P. (2014). Porto Reshaping higher education systems in the MENA region The contribution of remote and virtual labs. 2014 11th international conference on remote engineering and virtual instrumentation (REV). doi 10.1109/REV.2014.6784265. 

Applications of Virtual Instruments in Healthcare Eric Rosow and Joseph Adam 57-1... 

Example Application 1 The EndoTester —A Virtual Instrument-Based Quality Control and Technology Assessment System for Surgical Video Systems Example Application 2 PIVIT —... 

Performance Indicator Virtual Instrument Toolkit Trending, Relationships, and Interactive Alarms Data Modeling Medical Equipment Risk Criteria Peer Performance Reviews References.57-9... 

Virtual Instrumentation allows organizations to effectively harness the power of the PC to access, analyze, and share information throughout the organization. With vast amount of data available from increasingly sophisticated enterprise-level data sources, potentially useful information is often left hidden due to a lack of useful tools. Virtual instruments can employ a wide array of technologies such as multidimensional analyses and Statistical Process Control (SPC) tools to detect patterns, trends, causalities, and discontinuities to derive knowledge and make informed decisions. 

This chapter will discuss several virtual instrument applications and tools that have been developed to meet the specific needs of healthcare organizations. Particular attention will be placed on the use of quality control and performance indicators which provide the ability to trend and forecast various metrics. The use of SPC within virtual instruments will also be demonstrated. Finally, a nontraditional apphcation of virtual instrumentation will be presented in which a peer review application has been developed to allow members of an organization to actively participate in the Employee Performance Review process. 

The evaluation of new video endoscopic equipment is also difficult because of the lack of objective standards for performance. Purchasers of equipment are forced to make an essentially subjective decision about image quality. By employing virtual instrumentation, a collaborative team of biomedical engineers, software engineers, physicians, nurses, and technicians at Hartford Hospital (Hartford, CT) and Premise Development Corporation (Avon, CT) have developed an instrument, the EndoTester , with integrated software to quantify the optical properties of both rigid and flexible fiberoptic endoscopes. This easy-to-use optical evaluation system allows objective measurement of endoscopic performance prior to equipment purchase and in routine clinical use as part of a program of prospective maintenance. 

The EndoTester has many applications. In general, the most useful application is the ability to objectively measure an endoscope s performance prior to purchase, and in routine clinical use as part of a program of prospective maintenance. Measuring parameters of scope performance can facilitate equipment purchase. Vendor claims of instrument capabilities can be validated as a part of the negotiation process. Commercially available evaluation systems (for original equipment manufacturers) can cost upward of 50,000, yet by employing the benefits of virtual instrumentation and a standard PC,... 

Example Application 2 PIVIT —Performance Indicator Virtual Instrument Toolkit... 

Most of the information management examples presented in this chapter are part of an application suite called PIVIT . PIVIT is an acronym for Performance Indicator Virtual Instrument Toolkit and is an easy-to-use data acquisition and analysis product. PIVIT was developed specifically in response to the wide array of information and analysis needs throughout the healthcare setting. 

The PIVIT applies virtual instrument technology to assess, analyze, and forecast clinical, operational, and financial performance indicators. Some examples include applications which profile institutional indicators (i.e., patient days, discharges, percent occupancy, ALOS, revenues, expenses, etc.), and departmental indicators (i.e., salary, nonsalary, total expenses, expense per equivalent discharge, DRGs, etc.). Other applications of PI VIT include 360° Peer Review, Customer Satisfaction Profihng, and Medical Equipment Risk Assessment. 

Figure 57.3 illustrates a virtual instrument that interactively accesses institutional and department specific indicators and profiles them for comparison. Data sets can be acquired directly from standard spreadsheet and database applications (i.e., Microsoft Access , Excel , Sybase , Oracle , etc.). This capability has proven to be quite valuable with respect to quickly accessing and viewing large sets of data. Typically, multiple data sets contained within a spreadsheet or database had to be selected and then a new chart of these data had to be created. Using PIVIT, the user simply selects the desired parameter from any one of the pull-down menus and this data set is instantly graphed and compared to any other data set. 

Virtual instruments such as these are not only useful with respect to modeling and forecasting, but perhaps more importantly, they become a knowledgebase in which interventions and the efficacy of these interventions can be statistically proven. In addition, virtual instruments can employ standard technologies such as Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), ActiveX, or TCP/IP to transfer data to commonly used software applications such as Microsoft Access or Microsoft Excel . In this way, virtual instruments can measure and graph multiple signals while at the same time send these data to another application which could reside on the network or across the Internet. 

The virtual instrument shown in Figure 57.7 has been designed to easily acquire and compile performance information with respect to institution-wide competencies. It has been created to allow every member of a team or department to participate in the evaluation of a co-worker (360 peer review). Upon... 

FIGURE 57.7 Performance reviews using virtual instrumentation. 

Rosow, E. Virtual instrumentation applications with biosensors, presented at the Biomedical Engineering Consortium for Connecticut (BEACON) Biosensor Symposium, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, October 2,1998. 

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