Biomedical Identification: Overview, Problems and Prospects

The increasing applicability of system identification, as noticed in purely-engineering problems, can also be recognized in bio-medical tasks. This development of actual applications takes place in spite of the well-known specific limitations and problems related to such bio-systems: -restricted amount of a priori qualitative Knowledge; -very limited (if any) quantitative knowledge; -nonlinearities; -variability in time of the objects; -variability between objects; -poor measurability/observability; -difficult experimental conditions, as well as limitations due to ethical aspects In this workshop the attention is focussed on the continuing development of (potential) successful applications, with an emphasis on the more recent contributions. Ways of application include situations like: research, diagnosis, medication, surgery, rehabilitation, medical training This paper summarizes a number of pertinent general considerations. The fields of application discussed in this workshop include: - metabolic and endocrine systems - respiratory and cardiovascular systems - neuromuscular systems - sensory systems and neuronal systems One has to realize, of course, that these fields do not constitute an exhaustive list. They are, however, certainly representative for the challenges, feasibilities and limitations in this fascinating domain of human endeavour