News Citations—Respiration and Cardiovascular Activity

BIOPAC provides software and hardware that allow for research teams to record and analyze respiration activity in physiological experimentation. Here are a few notable studies in monitoring respiration and cardiovascular activity.

The coupling between peripheral microcirculation and slow breathing: The purpose of this study was to investigate the coupling of breathing movements and microcirculatory blood flow, and their effects on oxygen supply. Ovadia-Blechman, et al were able to acquire the electrocardiography (ECG) of participant’s cardiovascular system, allowing them to monitor heart activity during the course of the experiment, testing slow breathing and vasomotion at low oxygen levels using BIOPAC’s ECG100C amplifiers and AcqKnowledge software. This allowed for the analysis of a trend of respiration-vasomoations coupling, opening the door further insight in more specified thresholds of human physiology. See the full article on coupling peripheral micorcirulation and breathing.

Respiration monitoring by Electronic Bioimpedance: While there are several proposed methods to monitor lung tidal volume, Electronic Bioimpedance (EBI) has been identified by researchers from the University of Guanajuato for its effectiveness in analyzing respiration. Though other research groups propose electrical impedance tomography (ETI) for identifying lung ventilation, costly experimentation prices cause issues of accessibility for outpatients in basic hospitals. Balleza et al. concluded EBI’s effectiveness when compared to the well established EIT technique of measuring respiration behavior, through using BIOPAC TSD107B pneumotachometer with DAC100C general-propose transducer amplifier. Read more on respiration monitoring through EBI in the full study.

Respiratory physiology and Neurobiology: In order to understand how drivers can control vehicles in the case of an emergency, researchers measured physiological EEG signals to provide insight on an individual’s reaction ability. The study conducted by Li, et al, measured 20 participants’ reaction times when responding to commands while driving. With BIOPAC’s AcqKnowledge software paired with EEG100C amplifiers, researchers were able to measure, record, and save, EEG signals from the drivers during the experiment. See the full analysis on driver’s reaction ability in correlation to physiological parameters.

.