Oversampling data acquisition to improve resolution of digitized signals

The ability to capture analog signals in a digital format suitable for subsequent storage, processing and analysis by a computer has revolutionized many scientific fields, including biomechanics. In the process of going from the analog signal to its digital representation, it is essential to maintain as much of the original signal content as possible. There is always a loss of information associated with the conversion from analog to digital, independently of how it is actually performed. The only possibility to reduce the loss of information is to increase the number of states or the resolution of the digital signal. The method presented here, based on the same theory used in oversampling analog to digital converters, is applicable to digital signals acquired using any converter. In most situations this method provides a feasible and inexpensive technique to significantly improve the amplitude resolution of the analog to digital conversion. This can be of fundamental importance when the information of interest is small in amplitude compared to the overall signal, or when subsequent ill-conditioned operations, like the computation of the derivatives of the signal, are to be performed.