Description

The ability to conduct measurements on living organisms and systems has developed at a momentous rate concurrent with changes in technology over recent years. Measurement plays a vital role in developing our understanding of biological processes and in furthering our ability to understand and then treat illnesses and injuries. However, in conducting measurements on living organisms the information we collect comes in many different guises, is variable and the measurand is often unstable. Understanding these complexities is fundamental to biological and biomedical measurement. This concise encyclopedia therefore contains more than a comprehensive survey of the measurement systems. It includes also descriptions of the biological systems and subsystems so that the way in which decisions are made on measurement for a given application can be understood more easily. The encyclopedia contains specially commissioned articles and updated and revised articles from the acclaimed Systems and Control Encyclopedia. A vast array of disciplines are covered in this concise, comprehensive single volume, which will be a vital reference tool for practitioners in the area, measurement experts moving into the biological and biomedical field and beginners needing to understand methods of measurement and the complexities of the measurand.