Empfindlichkeitsfaktoren

Empfindlichkeit is a German noun that translates to sensitivity or susceptibility in English. The term derives from empfindlich, meaning sensitive, and it is used across multiple domains to denote the degree to which a system, organism, or medium responds to a stimulus or to changing conditions. In everyday language, empirically, it can also refer to delicacy or being easily offended, as in a person’s emotional or physical responsiveness.

In biology and medicine, Empfindlichkeit commonly describes sensory sensitivity—the threshold at which a stimulus is detected and the intensity required for perception. This can apply to hearing, vision, touch, taste, or smell. Clinically, the concept helps explain variations in perception and can influence diagnostics, treatment planning, and the evaluation of sensory disorders. In pharmacology and toxicology, drug or tissue sensitivity refers to the responsiveness of cells or organisms to a given substance.

In engineering and electronics, Empfindlichkeit denotes how strongly a device responds to inputs. A high-sensitivity sensor yields a larger output for a small input change, enabling detection of weak signals; a low-sensitivity device requires stronger stimuli to register a response. In imaging and photography, sensitivity describes a recording medium’s or sensor’s responsiveness to light, typically expressed as ISO in cameras or film speed in traditional media.

In statistics and data analysis, sensitivity (often translated as Empfindlichkeit or Sensitivität in German) describes the true positive rate or the ability of a test to identify actual positives. Across these uses, the core idea remains the same: sensitivity measures how strongly a system or method responds to stimuli or signals.