The DSC module allows for straight forward creation of Labview applications.

Features of the module:

• Built-in networking for data sharing and integrating third-party devices
• Networked database for distributed data logging
• Configuration-based alarms and events
• Graphical development for distributed monitoring and control
• User-level security for applications
• Real-time and historical trending

More info on the module page.

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.

PRESS RELEASE

Dublin, Ireland – January 21, 2010 – The Shimmer wireless sensor platform has recently been awarded the CE mark, proving it has met EU consumer health and safety requirements for medical equipment. The CE certification also includes the ECG, EMG, and Motion capture Products.

The CE Certification coincides with the launch of the platforms new EMG (Electromyography), and GSR (Galvanic Skin Response – for testing characteristics such as stress levels) products, and reflects the platforms continued advancement of wireless sensing innovation.

Marketed and developed by Shimmer Research the Shimmer wireless sensor platform now offers a wide range of wireless sensing possibilities from physiological and kinematic motion capture to tilt and vibration sensors. Commenting on the expanding range of wireless sensors Kieran Daly, VP of Business Development at Shimmer Research noted that the company is ‘committed to driving wireless sensing innovation by providing sensors that capture data to the highest industry standards’. Indeed, this was made evident by validation work carried out on the ECG, Motion, and GSR sensors for ambulatory ECG, Temporal Gait Analysis, and GSR data capture in biomedical research settings. The information captured by Shimmer was comparable to, or outperformed larger, traditional wired units that would be considered gold standard.

Remarking on the validation results,  Daly stated that everybody at the company was ‘very pleased with the results, it’s a good representation of the quality the platform offers, and highlights how Shimmer performs against well known traditional wired units that can be costly and don’t offer the same flexibility’

To read the full Press Release, click here.

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.

He notes the current difficulties facing the industry such as acceptance of the technologies involved by the end user, clinicians, and GP’s, along with the interoperability between various products. But goes onto note the vast growth that is predicted in the area with the Tele-health industry expected to grow to $8bn by 2012, from revenues of $591m in 2005.

Commenting on the contribution of businesses to research in the area, Dr. Bogan identifies Shimmer as a sensor platform that enables researchers to capture a wide range sensed data. He noted how the highly reconfigurable platform allows researchers to save time and money by moving beyond developing core foundation technologies and focus on the valuable data obtained by the wireless sensor platform.

Read Dr. Bogan’s full article on Connected Health in the Life Science Review.

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.

Speaking at the conference Ambassador Eric Goosby, the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator for the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, urged attendees not to pursue wireless health services because they are a “shiny new technology” or because they are “innovative, creative and flashy,” but rather because, if they do improve health outcomes for patients, then they should be core tools for medical workers and global health programs.

Also speaking at the conference was Eric Dishman from Intel’s Digital Health Group, who noted the importance of “Behavioural Makers” and made particular reference to the Shimmer platform. Describing Shimmer as a small unit that fits into a pocket and monitors such attributes as hand tremor, gait and stride length. This he noted helps the understanding of how a change in a person’s daily patterns, or characteristic markers, of behaviour could be used for diagnostic purposes.

Paul Jacob’s, CEO of Qualcomm noted that ‘timing couldn’t better for introducing patients to new digital health tools’. Jacob’s demonstrating a number of wireless health monitoring devices and sensors during his presentation, however many saw the highlight to be a Cookie Monster toy that moved around the stage, fell down, and stood back up again. The toy was wearing a Shimmer which allowed for the remote monitoring of the toys activity, and also sent a prompt alert when a fall had been detected.

To read the full on article Eric Dishman’s speech at TEDMED 2009 published in the Scientific American please click here, or to read a brief overview of all the speakers mentioned, please click here.

Cambridge, MA October 7, 2009. Insight Diagnostics Inc (IDI) presented at the First Shimmer Technology Exchange at Harvard University.

Shimmer Research and Insight Diagnostics, Inc have partnered to bring state of the art technology for the diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue injuries into a wireless format.   IDI’s proprietary technology Electrodiagnostic Functional Assessment, EFA brings physicians and insurers an innovative non invasive way to evaluate previously elusive soft tissue injuries.  Shimmer™ is a small wireless sensor platform designed to support wearable applications. The partnership between Shimmer Research and IDI will enhance the technology for delivery of the Electrodiagnostic Functional Assessment. IDI is using Shimmer Research’s technology to make the new device most effective for diagnosis of soft tissue injuries. The new device can have profound implications for cost effective evaluations of soft tissue related injuries and can even make inroads in cardiac monitoring.

To read the full Press Release – click here.

For more information on Shimmer – click here.