Data Acquisition In The Modern World

The Process Of Data Acquisition

We take things for granted. We rarely understand the steps and concepts involved in the R&D phase of any product. R&D stands for Research & Development. The products that we use on a daily basis without second thought is a result of millions of dollars and thousands of personnel research hours. The same goes in the field of medicine as well.

The difference between using data acquisition in the medical science research arena and the R&D department of a company is simply the amount of information available to the end user. In a manufacturing process, the consumer, or the end user is only concerned with the final product. He or she doesn’t have to know about the various process and research information to know if it affects their usage of the product.

In the field of medicine, however, the transfer of information is essential in saving lives. Live data is transferred using data acquisition systems to constantly monitor the status of a patient. So, the difference can be simply put down to mode of information gathering.

Apart from the field of medicine and product research, data acquisition systems are also used to log, or retrieve data with respect to the weather, such as temperature, humidity, density, pressure, etc.

The Equipment Used

There are two different kinds of data acquisition equipment available in the market. There are data acquisition systems that are made exclusively for the public, and then there are data loggers made for research, manufacturing, and for large scale use.

The simple data acquisition systems available to the general public or the consumer involve temperature & pressure gauge, data recording devices for computers, etc. This is done with less proficient users in mind, and hence, requires the usage of simple software to make the data more presentable and informative.

The second type of data acquisition systems are made with large companies and manufacturing corporations in mind. These are large scale devices, and makes use of complex and multi-level software to incorporate a wide variety of parameters during the data output phase. These data acquisition systems often make use of entire servers to process the data and then store them for future reference.

Life science or medical research also involves using the second type of data acquisition devices. ECGs, EEGs, Ultrasounds, etc, are a few of the data logging systems used to obtain live data from a patient. Drug companies also employ these systems to ensure that their medicines follow the expectations and tally with data obtained during research.

Although most of us are unaware of the different processes involved in data acquisition in the modern world, it would be a good idea to understand the basic concept, so that the next time someone mentions anything about a product or a breakthrough in life science research, you can have a better understanding.