New Citations | Using Wireless Technology to Support Psych Research

Solving Physical Stress Issues for Surgeons

Physical stress in the operating room is common for surgeons, considering how much time they spend in an upright standing position during surgical procedures. With procedures that require standing for several hours and average reported working times of 60-80 hours a week, surgeons seem to be at risk for musculoskeletal problems. In this study, researchers utilized wireless BioNomadix devices to record sEMG signals to determine whether new free-standing posture-support devices can be effectively used to reduce physical stress on surgeons when operating in an upright standing position.

Read the Full Study: A Standing Posture Support Device That Reduces Laparoscopic Surgeons’ Occupational Lower Limb Stress (Wataru Nishimoto, Hiroshi Kawahira, Yoshihiro Shimomura, Yuji Nishizawa, and Masaaki Ito)

Facebook Activities and Psychological Processes

Facebook is one of the most visited social media sites; however, not much is known about the psychological processes users go through while using the platform. This study looks at how users’ psychophysiological responses vary based on different Facebook interactions, such as liking, commenting, sharing, or updating posts. With the use of a MP Series Data Acquisition Unit, AcqKnowledge software, and wireless bioamplifiers, researchers looked into psychophysiological responses of volunteer Facebook users by measuring heart rate, skin conductance level (SCL), and facial electromyography (fEMG) as they engaged in various activities on the platform.

Read the Full Study: Pathways to Virality: Psychophysiological Responses Preceding Likes, Shares, Comments, and Status Updates on Facebook (Nasser Almutairi, Chen Lou, and Wonkyung Kim)

Respiratory Biofeedback: A New Relaxation/Breathing Exercise?

Exercises that teach people to practice meditative breathing have long been known to help with anxiety and stress-related illnesses. Respiratory biofeedback, a new effective tool for these illnesses, is a new process which involves breathing exercises accompanied with virtual reality feedback. Because of the expense involved in a comprehensive respiratory biofeedback solution for everyday use, the tool was measured against standard breathing exercises to measure its effectiveness. Researchers collected measures of subjective arousal during respiratory biofeedback usage, along with measures of objective arousal, which measured ECG and respiration signals through a wireless BioNomadix system.

Read the Full Study: Respiratory Biofeedback Does Not Facilitate Lowering Arousal in Meditation Through Virtual Reality (Angelica M. Tinga, Ivan Nyklíček, Michel P. Jansen, Tycho T. de Back, and Max M. Louwerse)