The biorthogonal decomposition analysis of signals from an array of Mirnov coils is able to provide the spatial structure and the temporal evolution of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) instabilities in a tokamak. Such analysis can be adapted to a data acquisition and elaboration system suitable for fast real time applications such as instability detection and disruption precursory markers computation. This paper deals with the description of this technique as applied to the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU).