The Shimmer 2R platform has improved battery voltage monitoring, and the ability to measure/calculate instantaneous operating current. This new functionality will benefit customers seeking to develop resource aware applications. The new 802.15.4 radio module, developed by Shimmer Research and titled SR7, has FCC, IC, and ETSI certification and is also utilised on the recently launch Span Platform for low power standards based communication.

New Features of the Shimmer 2R Platform:

• New 3 Axis Accelerometer: Freescale MMA7361 1.5/6g Micropower MEMs Accelerometer

• New Shimmer Research SR7 Radio Module: 802.15.4 Radio Module with Chipcon CC2420, Chip Antenna. The SR7 has FCC, IC, and ETSI Certification.

• New Class 2 Bluetooth™ Radio: Roving Networks RN-42 with soft-power control and improved low-power and master-mode.

• Power Monitoring: Improved battery voltage monitoring and the ability to measure/calculate operating current.

• More Functional Case Design:

The release of Shimmer 2R coincides with the release of a full range of new enclosures. The new case design is 25% smaller in volume for the standard Shimmer unit, and offers greater functionality on the expansion modules.

For more details on the Shimmer 2R platform download the capabilities overview, or for registered users of our members section, download the Shimmer 2R manual.

The Shimmer Gyro Board has an enhanced user interface with a programmable button for application control (such as sampling start/stop, RF transmission start/stop, data marker), a programmable indicator, and pinhole reset. The new rigid Gyro Board also burns 25% less power than the previous Shimmer Flexi Gyro design and with a rigid board implementation to ensure a perpendicular Z-axis, the new board reduces alignment error and provides mechanical stability. The size of the Shimmer is unchanged, even with the new features.

New Gyro Board – Key Features:

Sensing:

• InvenSense 500 series MEMs Gyros provide 500 degrees/s full scale, 2.0mV/degree/second sensitivity.
  • (Factory option for 110 degrees/s and 9.1mV/degree/second sensitivity)
• Planar design reduces alignment error and provides mechanical stability
• Burns 25% less power than previous Shimmer Gyro
• Zero-signal reference levels for offset calibration
• Gyro Temperature monitoring for precision sensing applications
• Auto-zero control for precision sensing applications
• Secondary power regulator rejects system noise
• Gyros can be disabled to save power

User Interface:

• Programmable Button for application control.  Examples: Sampling Start/Stop, RF transmission Start/Stop, Data Marker
• Programmable Indicator
• Pinhole reset

Also available to registered members of the Shimmer Research website are the user guides for the Shimmer Expansion Modules. The Shimmer Biophysical user guide covers the Shimmer ECG, EMG, and GSR modules, with the Shimmer Gyro user guide, and AnEx user guide also available.

Finally, Shimmer Research has recently launched its own Youtube Channel where a range of presentations, applications, and product demonstrations will be available. There are a number of videos already uploaded to the Channel, which we will look to add to in the future, so please subscribe to the Shimmer Research Channel for the latest updates. If any existing Shimmer users have any videos they would like to submit for inclusion, please feel free to contact us at info ‘at’ shimmer-research.com.

Updated features include:

• LowPass / HighPass filters
• Actual / filtered values display
• Accelerometer calibration
• Corrected multiple display labels
• Updated help file
• CSV / Binary capture feature
• Export CSV from Shimmer Reader

About Shimmer Display

The Shimmer Display allows users to display the data received from Shimmer. The program can also capture data to disk and / or send it as UDP packets on the local network. The data can be captured in the Bluetooth client mode only, and can export to a Binary file, or a CSV file. As the data is coming over a standard serial port – any Windows program (Windows 95 to Windows 7) will be able to receive the data, meaning there is no need for any driver. In UDP client mode, the program displays the data broadcasted over the local network by a Shimmer connected to a different computer or network adapter.

About Shimmer Binary Reader

The Shimmer Binary Reader is an application used for displaying the raw data captured by the Shimmer Display application and the Shimmer Symbian Bluetooth client.

To download the file, please visit the following link: http://shimmer-research.com/wordpress/download/softwares. Please note that the file is only available to registered members of the website.

The EMG daughter card is a highly economical wireless acquisition system for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by muscles using conventional disposable electrodes. The EMG works just like the existing Shimmer ECG daughter card allowing the addition of EMG measurement to existing Shimmer systems as a drop-in replacement. The EMG has low power consumption 180µA (leads connected) and a frequency range* of 5Hz-482Hz.

The GSR daughter card monitors skin conductivity between two reusable electrodes attached to two fingers of one hand and can be used in areas such as affective computing and to monitor aspects including stress, excitement, shock, and cognitive factors. The Shimmer GSR outperforms competing devices by using four digitally controlled measurement ranges. Developers use this capability to ensure accurate measurement across a variety of test subjects in real-world deployments.

The EMG and GSR daughter cards maintain an open system with no proprietary connectors, and have an open and extensible software and data format. They both capture data to the highest industry standards, and offer far superior flexibility due to wearable technology and small form factor allowing for greater usability in real world applications. Most notably, the EMG and GSR daughter cards match or often outperform competing gold standard sensor units, whilst offering better ergonomics at a cost-effective price.

A brief specification overview of the two daughter cards can be seen below:

EMG

GSR

The new daughter cards can be purchased by contacting info ‘at’ shimmer-research.com, and will be available to purchase from our online store in the coming weeks.

The Arab Health Exhibition & Congress is the largest healthcare exhibition in the Middle East, and the second largest in the world. Established 35 years ago, it provides a platform for the world’s leading manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors to meet the medical and scientific community in the Middle East and beyond.

Kieran Daly will be displaying the Shimmer unit in operation throughout the event and will be demonstrating the latest ECG application which remotely monitors and displays heart beat rate and QRS waveforms. The application also indicates a normal heart rate, and detects arrhythmias for real time patient monitoring.

To arrange a meeting with Kieran Daly – email us at: info ‘at’ shimmer-research.com.

The certification demonstrates the platforms conformance and compliance to the requirements of Annex IV of Council Directive 1999/5/EC.

microSD

For members of our website’s user community, the Shimmer microSD Media Guide has just been posted to our Download/Documents section. The guide details the compatibility requirements, qualification list results, and data recovery tools for Shimmer users running applications that utilise the microSD functionality.

To download the guide, please click here.

ECG Validation

A number of tests were carried out to validate the Shimmer ECG daughter card as a valid tool for acquiring ambulatory ECG. The tests included the validation of the ECG amplifier and ADC performance by using calibrated input signals as well as an ECG recording from a healthy non-resting subject. Another test carried out was a 5.9 minute ECG recording containing 503 heart beats from a non-resting healthy subject during a moderate walk. The information was captured by the Shimmer ECG and also captured by a Medilog Holter monitoring system. The results indicate that the Shimmer ECG can be used to acquire ambulatory ECG from resting and non-resting human subjects for research application purposes.

Kinematic Validation

To validate the Shimmer platform for use in studies of human gait analysis, temporal gait parameters derived from a tri-axial gyroscope on the Shimmer platform were compared against those acquired simultaneously, by using the codamotion analysis system from Charnwood Dynamics Ltd., UK.

The gait of one normal healthy adult male (age 25) was measured simultaneously by using two Shimmer sensors placed on each shank and the Cartesian Optoelectronic Dynamic Anthropometer (CODA) motion analysis system. Data was recorded whilst the subject performed multiple over-ground walking and running trials along a 15-meter walkway in a motion analysis laboratory. Heel strike and toe-off characteristic points derived from the Shimmer and CODA systems were used to calculate the three temporal gait parameters listed below:

• Stride time
• Stance time
• Swing time

Results show an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC(2,k)) [64] greater than 0.85 in stride, swing, and stance times for ten walking trials and four running trials. These results suggest that the Shimmer platform is a versatile cost-effective tool for use in temporal gait analysis.

GSR Validation

The Shimmer galvanic skin response (GSR) sensor contains an internal resistor network that works as a potential divider and provides a voltage that can be converted by the Shimmer’s ADC to a 12-bit value, used to measure external skin resistance. All skin resistance values were calculated in the Shimmer platform firmware and transmitted to a BioMOBIUS patch for real-time display and persistence to file. The sensor performance was correlated with a commercial Nexus-10 system (Mind Media BV) utilizing a series of known resistors from 10K Ω to 2.2M Ω. Shimmer GSR demonstrated an average mean percentage error of 2.3 percent versus the commercial Nexus-10 that had an average mean error of 4.1 percent.

Shimmer Research is proud to announce the launch of the next generation Shimmer, which has evolved from Shimmer 1.3 to offer new features and functionality to users of the platform.

The latest revision of the Shimmer platform adds improvements based on years of field trials and deployments. The most dramatic change is a patent-pending direct-to-host data transfer path from Shimmer’s MicroSD card to hasten data offload, minimize user training, and provide fail-safe data access. Power control features have been added including soft-power switching and low-battery shutdown. Finally a passive vibration sensor was added— this sensor efficiently signals when the device is in use.

Other new features on the Shimmer 2 platform are:

• Reset/User Programmable on/off switch
• SD Card with data-path MUX for full-speed host transfer when docked and soft-power control with dock detection over-ride
• SD data bypass – full FAT FS for SD access when the shimmer is docked
• Tilt/vibration sensor
• Improved plastics and enclosure

Shimmer (rev 2.0) will also be compatible with the existing Shimmer 1.3 family of products and accessories to insure easy of integration into existing Shimmer projects.

Download the PDF document to see a full Capabilities Overview.

Download the PDF document to answer any Legacy Support Questions.

To purchase the platform today, please visit our Online Store.

Customers will now be able to purchase Shimmer Development kits and associated hardware at any time via our secure and easy to use online shop.

To visit the store click on this link.

The Shimmer Team.