How does our heart behave under water?

Cuore e Subacquea

We're excited to support Giuseppe Di Tursi from Politecnico di Milano in his explorative research study "CUORE E SUBACQUEA" on cardiac physiology during immersion with our ECG sensors. This is the first study of its kind focused on assessing the feasibility to monitor the Electrocardiogram and Seismocardiogram (i.e. the measurement of chest’s vibrations induced by cardiac mechanical activity) during a diving session.
The main goal and the innovation of this investigation stands in evaluating and quantifying the spontaneous adaptation of myocardial mechanics to the underwater environment.

We're very excited about the upcoming results of this study and look forward to the further cooperation with Politecnico di Milano.

ISAPA Move 4 Starter Set Winner

As part of our ISAPA Break Session event, movisens held a Raffle to win a Move 4 Starter Set. Out of numerous participants we chose Merja Rantakokko from JAMK University in Finland as the winner!
Congratulations!
We wish Merja a lot of success with our Move 4 for her upcoming research work and look forward to reporting on her results in the near future.

The meaning of Move 4 as Inertial measurement units (IMUs)

Pervasive healthcare is among the most prominent fields of research with an increasing demand for IMUs.
Inertial measurement units (IMUs) are electronic devices that typically consist of a 3-axis accelerometer (which measures linear acceleration) and a 3-axis gyroscope (which measures angular velocity).
Typically, IMUs are used to track movement patterns or recognize activities of the user like gait analisis.

The newly published paper (How We Found Our IMU: Guidelines to IMU Selection and a Comparison of Seven IMUs for Pervasive Healthcare Applications) shows that also in gait analysis the sensor Move 4 of movisens supplies outstanding results!

IMU device specification of the Move 4

Onboard Memory

4GB

Battery Capacity

380mAh

Max. Sampling Rate

Max. sampling rate can be customized to 256 Hz

Accelerometer Range

±16 g

Gyroscope Range

±2000 deg/s

Additional Sensors

Barometer

Temperature Sensor

Ambient Light Sensor (LightMove 4)

IR Sensor (Customizing: Integration of an IR temperature sensor)

Respiration Sensor (Customizing: Integration of an respiration sensor)

Charging Options

Micro USB

Additional Adaptor/Dock

Waterproof

IP64

Developer Options

Java API

SensorManager Update

The new SensorManager Update is now available!

New Features:
  • Improved interoperability between sensor and movisensXS
  • Optimized readout of very long measurements
  • Usability improvements
SensorManager

Student Poject of the Year

As part of movisens' 10th anniversary, the best student project is being awarded a prize for the student and the supervisor. You can now register for this competition with your student project. Every successfully completed student project can take part in the competition. This also applies to former students who have successfully completed a student project together with movisens in the past 10 years.

Student Project of the Year

Validating Accelerometers for the Assessment of Body Position and Sedentary Behavior

There is growing evidence that sedentary behavior is a risk factor for mental health. Activity sensors play an important role in the investigation of sedentary behavior.
But how exactly do they measure sedentary activity, and where is the best place to measure it?
The following table gives a short overview of the validity of different activity sensors. Further information can be found in the article: Validating Accelerometers for the Assessment of Body Position and Sedentary Behavior.

Aktivitätssensoren und ihre Validität im Überblick

Parameter

Wearing place

Move 4

ActiGraph

ActiPal

Body Position
(sitting/lying)

thigh

hip

K=.97

K=.78

-

K=.67

K=.85

-

Sedentary Behaviour

thigh

hip

K=.95

K=.84

-

K=.69

K=.90

-

Giurgiu M. et al. (2019). Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour.

The importance of accelerometry for recording physical activity

The article „Assessing physical behavior through accelerometry – State of the science, best practices and future directions“ (Buchartz et al., 2020) provides an up-to-date overview of the possibilities of accelerometry and makes recommendations for its use.
Modern accelerometers provide researchers with the ability to collect objective data regarding the intensity and duration of physical activity over a period ranging from several days to several weeks and months.

If your research revolves around physical activity, we’ll show you how our activity sensors accurately record physical activity in everyday life.

Move 4 und LightMove 4 - Perfect tools for capturing physical activity

The activity sensor Move 4 from movisens allows a continuous, objective recording of physical activity for up to 4 weeks. From the measurement parameters (3-axis acceleration, rotation rate and barometric pressure) we can calculate a multitude of categories and output parameters such as Physical Activity (PA), Sedentary Behaviour, Sleep, Energy Expenditure and Physical Activity Metrics.
The integrated pressure sensor improves both activity classification and the accuracy of energy expenditure estimation. For example, we can distinguish between normal walking and stair climbing.
A further advantage presented by the LightMove 4 model is an integrated light sensor. The data recorded by the light sensor allows the detection of the type of ambient light and also helps detect the intention to sleep.

All Output Parameters at a glance

Category

Output parameter

Live Analysis

Physical Activity Metrics

MAI (MovementAcceleration Intensity)

BFEN (Band-pass Filtered Euclidean Norm)

HFEN (High-pass Filtered Euclidean Norm)

EN (Euclidian Norm)

ENMO (Euclidian Norm Minus One)

HFENP (High-pass Filtered Euclidean Norm plus)

EEAC (EeacMean)

MAD (Mean Amplitude Deviation)

ZC (Zero Crossing)

PIM (Proportional Integrating Measure)

AWC (ActiWatch4Counts)

yes

no

no

no

no

no

no

no

no

no

no

no

no

Phsical Activity

Activity Level

Activity Class

Energy Expenditure

MET

Steps

Body Position

yes

yes

no

yes

yes

yes

Sedentary Behaviour

Sedentary

yes

Sleep

Sleep/Wake

no

Wear Detection

Worn/Not Worn

no

The movisens team provides development expertise for researcher specific questions. We’re always happy to discuss your research project and see if we can tailor a solution for you.
Given repeated requests, we’ve integrated an IR Temperature sensor in our activity sensor Move 4 and our ECG and activity sensor EcgMove 4. This researcher specific customisation allows a continuous recording of the participant’s skin temperature.

Further Measurement Parameters

  • Internal Temperature Sensor -> Body Temperature
  • IR-Temperature-Sensor -> Skin Temperature
  • Ambient Ligth Sensor -> Light Intensity (red, green, blue, clear, IR)
  • ECG-Amplifier -> ECG (1 Channel, 16 bit, 1024 Hz)
  • EDA-Amplifier -> Skin Conductance, Elektrodermale Activity, SNS activation

Other Sensors/ Recording Options

Sensors for measuring skin temperature

Our customer oriented development serves as a keystone for our success in ambulatory assessment and mobile monitoring technologies. Combined with our expertise in sensor technology, we regularly implement custom solutions for researchers.

movisens track record of implementing customer wishes takes another step forward. Due to researcher requests, we've integrated an infrared temperature sensor into our mobile physiological sensors the Move 4, and the EcgMove 4. This enables the continuous acquisition of skin temperature in addition to the wide array of other signals recorded.

Not only in times of corona is the measurement of skin temperature an important procedure, also in many other fields, important knowledge can be gained with the use of skin temperature; as the following example application illustrates.

movisens´ integrated IR-Sensors in use:

  • Innovative Project for Domomedicine Deployment: The PiCADo Pilot Project
  • A novel algorithm for detecting human circadian rhythms using a thoracic temperature sensor
  • Relevance of a Mobile Internet Platform for Capturing Inter- and Intrasubject Variabilities in Circadian Coordination During Daily Routine: Pilot Study

Learn more about the Product Customization that movisens offers.

New SensorManager Update Available

The newest movisens SensorManager included a whole string of new features.

  • Multi-Part-Measurement: If the battery level of the sensor is getting lower than 10%, the measurement will be paused. The LED stops flashing. You can connect the sensor to a USB charger and recharge the battery. If you disconnect the sensor from charger after battery level is higher than 30%, the measurement will be restarted.
  • No measurement stop:  If you reconnect the sensor after starting a measurement again with a PC, the measurement won’t be stopped.
  • Checking battery level: If the battery level of the sensor is less the 10 % when clicking on the „Start Recording“ button, the following message appears.
  • Proband configuration: The personal information of the proband can be entered before beginning the measurement. 

  • Read more about the SensorManager...