Analysis of Physiological Signals

Introduction

In this chapter we discuss briefly the nature of signals encountered in physiological systems and some of the analytical tools used to study them. We avail ourselves of this opportunity to present the mathematical preliminaries necessary for the development of the methodology of functional identification of systems (primarily the white-noise approach) that will be discussed in the remainder of this book. In the course of this discussion we present examples of analysis of physiological signals through the use of these tools and concepts of signal analysis.