Improved noncontact electrodes and noninvasive hybrid biosensors enable fast, reliable readings of hearts and brains, without requiring contact with the skin.

The Ultimate Sensor Nov 1, 2006 By: Ed Ramsden

In the original Star Trek series, DeForest Kelley played ship's surgeon Dr. Leonard McCoy. This character was especially memorable for his frequent medical pronouncement, "He's dead, Jim," and for his handheld medical scanner, a device that looked like a pepper shaker with a spinning cap. This magical sensor could instantly and noninvasively diagnose any medical condition.

When Michael Faraday introduced the concept of an electric field, little did he realize how far science would run with the idea. Today, engineers are using electric fields to sense the presence of other objects without relying on physical contact. Referred to as e-field sensors or capacitance sensors, they are becoming more and more prevalent in a wide range of inexpensive and long-lasting applications. When you take a closer look at how they work, you quickly see why their popularity is growing.

Testing for Materials Aging in Nuclear Power Generators May 1, 2006 By: Kirby Woods, Innotech Engineering Solutions LLC

Although our country is young by European, and especially by Asian standards, its infrastructures are getting old. These aging structures' rising costs are becoming an epidemic that directly affects public safety and has an adverse impact on the country's competitive advantage in the international marketplace. One area of particular concern is the nuclear power industry, whose aging cost has been estimated at an annual $17.3 billion [1]. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission considers the corrosion that has taken place in various facilities to be a public safety issue [2]. This article describes a nondestructive examination (NDE) process, and a new technology that could offer a cure for this "aging epidemic."

Does this thing work? How a digital multimeter can tell you if your temperature transducer is working, broken, or confused.

A good example of unwanted vibratory motion is a washing machine in its spin cycle trying to walk out of the room. MR damping can correct this and other problem vibrations.

A standard thermocouple can be combined with a lithium ion monitor chip to create a smart sensor that communicates with a PC or microcontroller over a single twisted-pair cable.

Take a look at how analog electronic filters work. This introduction covers the basics, including the various types of filter functions and the circuits and techniques that implement them.

Until recently a laboratory curiosity, diamagnetism has entered the commercial world as part of a hybrid levitation system in which a diamagnetic force provides the necessary control stability and permanent magnets supply the lift.

A new generation of current sensors based on the magnetoresistive effect is extremely compact and offers tight measurement tolerances and a high bandwidth—at a low price.