Two of the oldest areas of medical physics and biomedical engineering are measurements in living systems and quantitative mathematical modeling of these biological entities. The growth of Physiological Measurement over recent years attests to the fact that the former area is still an important one while the field in general does the same for the latter. The number of manuscripts that we receive and ultimately publish has increased each year resulting in an increase in the number of pages we publish each year as well. Less than two years ago we went from a quarterly publication to one that appeared in postboxes bimonthly, and immediate Web publication of papers once they are accepted brings timely information to our subscribers more rapidly than our print editions. Starting in 2006, we will publish Physiological Measurement monthly, a further indication of the growth in this area and our concern regarding timely publication.
As we grow, we recognize that measurement in biologic systems is also becoming a much broader field. Not only do we measure quantities associated with organs and organisms, but today the field is also concerned with measurements of and within cells and subcellular components as well as the molecules themselves that constitute and control these fundamental biologic structures. Often it is difficult to simply make a measurement and understand the data in such a complex system or to comprehend the very measurement itself without applying the tools of the other long-standing, well-established area of biomedical engineering and medical physics: mathematical modeling and simulation. Thus, it makes great sense to include these areas as they apply to physiological measurement within the scope of this journal. For this reason, we have added 'modeling and simulation as they apply to measurements' as a new bullet-point in our list of topics related to physiological measurement covered by this journal. Are we changing to a modeling journal? No, we are just recognizing the importance of modeling in the measurement process. The Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) has other publications that do an excellent job of covering the field of physiological modeling. We want to limit our concern to validated models of measurements, instrumentation and measurement systems, and data analysis. Our editorial staff and editorial board look forward to your submissions and comments on this new topic.