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BIOPAC introduces “Biopac Student Lab Home” for safe social distancing for practical physiology labs that are open, closed, or operating in a hybrid fashion. BSL Home is an easy to use system that includes everything students need to record and analyze data from their own bodies while working independently on or off campus.

In the old world, students operated in groups to complete their experiments. This fostered cooperative learning and peer-to-peer instruction. Unfortunately, this is no longer a safe option and we must act to limit exposure—especially for immunocompromised students. These practical experiments are critical for students that need a Bachelor of Science degree for a career in the medical frontline, working in industry, or continuing their education. Sadly, the old world ways won’t work during the pandemic–students and instructors MUST have safe practical labs.

Welcome to the new world. BSL Home comes with affordable purchase options. A “learn & return” rental program is also available for USA only—BIOPAC ships to instructors on campus or directly to a student’s home address, students return the system when they are done. Students complete labs safely by social distancing from their lab mates. It’s a safety net that future proofs your course and fosters equity among the student body, particularly for immunocompromised students who can’t risk exposure. Most importantly, students complete the program they signed up for and benefit from the hands-on experience of collecting physiological data and learning by DOING. The new world should not mean the END of practical labs. Give your students what they want: SAFE, ENGAGING, and FUN labs that teach them the skills they need. BSL, with millions of student lab hours, provides the perfect solution for new world problems. BSL Home a new world solution with an old-world pedigree.

The free BSL Analysis download available on the BIOPAC website helps maximize in-lab time by providing resources that allow students to prepare, review, report, and share data outside of class. Students can read online lesson overview from the BSL Laboratory Manual for an introduction to physiological concepts, recording procedure, and analysis steps. Students can review sample data and replay the data to simulate the recording. Students can open a lesson data file for analysis, including files downloaded from Dropbox. Learn more about Biopac Student Lab teaching solutions.

Learn about Biopac Student Lab teaching systems, an integrated system of hardware, software, and curriculum used by thousands of labs worldwide at two-year, four-year, nursing, and medical schools for undergraduate and graduate life science studies.

BSL 4 Biopac Student Lab Lessons and PRO software displays multi-media lessons with full-color physiology introduction & lesson guides, embedded procedure videos & data samples to ensure students collect good data, and integrated Data Reports that students can complete and save or email from within the software. New rich-text journal tools include formatting, editing and table tools with mathematical operations, formulas and functions. Advanced analysis options include Heart Rate Variability, Cycle Detector (Find Peak) updates, and more. UI enhancements include jump tool for data navigation, event marker and preset options, and an option to email an image of the data/graph window. BSL Demo

After recording a Biopac Student Lab lesson, use the BSL software to perform a detailed analysis. This video provides an overview of the most commonly used analysis tools, using Lesson 5: ECG as an example. Learn how to select data, zoom in/out on areas of interest, take measurements, and complete the data report. BSL Demo

Detailed overview of available tools in Biopac Student Lab Software. This tutorial covers the user interface available tools to allow students to easily view, measure, and analyze their data. Tutorial also covers completing the onscreen data report. Biopac Student Lab Tutorial

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students observe and record skeletal muscle tonus as reflected by a basal level of electrical activity associated with the muscle in a resting state. They record maximum grip strength for right and left hands and compare differences between male and female grip strength. They also observe, record, and correlate motor unit recruitment with increased power of skeletal muscle contraction, and can listen to EMG “sounds” and correlate sound intensity with motor unit recruitment. Biopac Student Lab EMG I

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students determine the maximum grip strength for right and left hands and compare differences between male and female. They observe, record, and correlate motor unit recruitment with increased power of skeletal muscle contraction, and record the force produced by grip muscles, EMG, and integrated EMG when inducing fatigue. Biopac Student Lab EMG II

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students record an EEG from an awake, resting subject with eyes open and eyes closed, and then identify and examine alpha, beta, delta, and theta components of the EEG complex. Biopac Student Lab EEG II

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students become familiar with the electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) as a primary tool for evaluating electrical events within the heart. They will correlate electrical events as displayed on the ECG with the mechanical events that occur during the cardiac cycle, and observe rate and rhythm changes in the ECG associated with body position and breathing. Biopac Student Lab ECG I

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students become familiar with the electrocardiograph (ECG or EKG) as a primary tool for evaluating electrical events within the heart. They will correlate electrical events as displayed on the ECG with the mechanical events that occur during the cardiac cycle, and observe rate and rhythm changes in the ECG associated with breathing. Biopac Student Lab makes it easy to choose the best recording options for your lab objectives and class time. This clip shows just the “Seated” recording segment; the “Supine” recording was disabled via Lesson Preferences > Lesson Recordings. Biopac Student Lab ECG I.

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students use pneumograph and air temperature transducer to record and measure ventilation and examine how ventilation relates to temperature changes in airflow through one nostril. They will observe and record chest expansion and contraction and modifications in the rate and depth of the breathing cycle due to cerebral influence and chemoreceptor influence on the medullary control centers. Biopac Student Lab Respiratory Cycle

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students Record EOG on the horizontal plane and compare eye movements under the following conditions: pendulum tracking, pendulum simulation, reading silently, reading aloud, and reading challenging material. They then record EOG on the vertical plane and compare eye movements during real and during simulated tracking of an object in the vertical plane. In the final segment, students record the number and duration of saccades that occur when reading a two-line passage silently, and then aloud, and calculate the percentage of time used for saccadic eye movements. Biopac Student Lab EOG

In this Biopac Student Lab Pulmonary Function I lesson, students observe experimentally, record and/or calculate selected pulmonary volumes and capacities, and then compare the observed values with average values of subjects differing in gender age, weight, and height. This clip demonstrates proper use of an optional calibration syringe with the airflow transducer.

This Biopac Student Lab Pulmonary Function lesson records a variety of pulmonary measurements: Tidal volume, Inspiratory capacity, Expiratory capacity, Functional residual capacity, Vital capacity and Total lung capacity. This video shows data recording in the lesson.

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students observe experimentally, record, and/or calculate forced expiratory volume (FEV) and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV), and then compare observed values of FEV with predicted normals and compare MVV values with other students in the lab group. Biopac Student Lab Pulmonary Function II

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students use an auscultatory method to indirectly determine systemic arterial systolic and diastolic blood pressures and to correlate the appearance and disappearance of vascular sound with systolic and diastolic pressures, respectively. Students measure, record, and compare systemic arterial BP in a variety of experimental conditions, and compute and compare pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure under different experimental conditions. Students compute the pulse pressure wave velocity by measuring the time between the R-wave of the ECG and the Korotkoff sounds. Biopac Student Lab Blood Pressure

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students listen to human heart sounds at the aortic, pulmonic, tricuspid, and mitral valve positions, and describe them qualitatively in terms of intensity or loudness, pitch, and duration. Students correlate the human heart sounds with the opening and closing of cardiac valves during the cardiac cycle and with systole and diastole of the ventricles, and determine the nature of the change in the relationship between electrical and mechanical events of the cardiac cycle as heart rate increases. Biopac Student Lab Heart Sounds

In this Biopac Student Lab lesson, students become familiar with anatomical and physiological elements of simple spinal reflexes. They will examine properties of some simple neuromuscular reflexes commonly tested in physical diagnosis and measure and compare latent periods and reaction times of extensor and flexor reflexes. Students will elicit an extensor reflex and compare contractile force vs. stimulus strength, apply the Jendrassik maneuver and observe exaggeration of an extensor reflex, then measure and compare reaction times of voluntary activation of skeletal muscle vs. involuntary (reflex) activation of skeletal muscle. Biopac Student Lab Spinal Reflexes

Learn how to easily create your own lessons in the Biopac Student Lab Software. Choose your signals and settings, and create a procedure for your students to follow. On lab day students simply open the template file, read the instructions, and click start to begin recording data.. Biopac Student Lab PRO Software

This tutorial covers creating strings or sequences of pulses using a Low Voltage Stimulator and BSL 4 Software. Biopac Student Lab PRO Software

Construct an Absolute Value Circuit as a building block for a QRS wave detector

Construct a Band Pass filter as a building block in a QRS wave detector.

Build simple instrumentation amp to act as a primary interface for medical transducers, such as electrodes or bridge resistance sensors.

Construct a notch filter to remove 50 or 60 Hz noise from the ECG signal

Construct a Low Pass filter to remove the high frequency component of the wave generated by the QRS Band Pass Filter, to produce a usable waveform that will become a QRS detector

In this lesson, record maximum grip clench for the dominant and non-dominant hand to investigate the properties of skeletal muscle. This video shows calibration for the lesson.

In lesson 2, use a hand dynamometer to record maximum grip strength for both hands and explore the role of skeletal muscle in performing mechanical tasks. This video shows calibration for the lesson with an SS25LA hand dynamometer.

In lesson 2, use a hand dynamometer to record maximum grip strength for both hands and explore the role of skeletal muscle in performing mechanical tasks. This video shows calibration for the lesson with an SS25LA  hand dynamometer.

In lesson 2, use a hand dynamometer to record maximum grip strength for both hands and explore the role of skeletal muscle in performing mechanical tasks. This video shows calibration for the lesson with an SS56L clench force transducer.

In this lesson, use a hand dynamometer to record maximum grip strength for both hands and explore the role of skeletal muscle in performing mechanical tasks. This video shows recording with an SS25L hand dynamometer.

In this lesson, use a hand dynamometer to record maximum grip strength for both hands and explore the role of skeletal muscle in performing mechanical tasks. This video shows recording with an SS56L clench force transducer.

In this lesson, use a hand dynamometer to record maximum grip strength for both hands and explore the role of skeletal muscle in performing mechanical tasks. This video shows recording with an SS25L hand dynamometer.

In this lesson, use a hand dynamometer to record maximum grip strength for both hands and explore the role of skeletal muscle in performing mechanical tasks. This video shows recording with an SS25LA hand dynamometer.

In this lesson, use a hand dynamometer to record maximum grip strength for both hands and explore the role of skeletal muscle in performing mechanical tasks. This video shows recording with an SS56L clench force transducer.

In this lesson, record Lead II ECG and examine components of the ECG complex as an introduction to the electrocardiograph and the recording of the heart’s electrical signal. This video demonstrates recording while the subject is seated.

In this lesson, record Lead II ECG and examine components of the ECG complex as an introduction to the electrocardiograph and the recording of the heart’s electrical signal. This video shows recording in the lesson. This video demonstrates recording after the subject completes a brief exercise.

In lesson 7, use a pulse plethysmogram transducer and Lead II ECG to examine the mechanical action of the heart and peripheral pulse pressure to learn how the heart pumps blood throughout the body. This video shows calibration for the lesson.

In this lesson, record chest contraction & expansion and ventilation, then correlate respiration changes with ventilation to examine the effects of cerebral influence and chemoreceptor influence on the medullary control centers. This video shows recording hyperventilation in the lesson.

In this lesson, record chest contraction & expansion and ventilation, then correlate respiration changes with ventilation to examine the effects of cerebral influence and chemoreceptor influence on the medullary control centers. This video shows subject breathing while relaxed (baseline) recording.

In this lesson, record chest contraction & expansion and ventilation, then correlate respiration changes with ventilation to examine the effects of cerebral influence and chemoreceptor influence on the medullary control centers. This video demonstrates recording while the subject coughs then reads aloud.

In this lesson, record changes in respiratory rate, heart rate and electrodermal activity (skin conductance) to become familiar with the standard physiological measures recorded by a polygraph and study the effects of cognitive behavior and emotion. This video shows calibration for the lesson.

In this lesson, record changes in respiratory rate, heart rate and electrodermal activity (skin conductance) to become familiar with the standard physiological measures recorded by a polygraph and study the effects of cognitive behavior and emotion. This video shows recording in the lesson.

In this lesson, record horizontal and vertical eye movement to demonstrate eye fixation and tracking. Students perform a number of tasks that allow them to record the duration of saccades and fixation. This video demonstrates recording while the subject’s eyes follow a pendulum.

In this lesson, record horizontal and vertical eye movement to demonstrate eye fixation and tracking. Students perform a number of tasks that allow them to record the duration of saccades and fixation. This video demonstrates recording while the subject’s eyes follow an imaginary pendulum (simulation).

In this lesson, record horizontal and vertical eye movement to demonstrate eye fixation and tracking. Students perform a number of tasks that allow them to record the duration of saccades and fixation. This video demonstrates recording while tracking vertical eye movement with a pen.

In this lesson, record horizontal and vertical eye movement to demonstrate eye fixation and tracking. Students perform a number of tasks that allow them to record the duration of saccades and fixation. This video demonstrates recording while tracking vertical eye movement with an imaginary focal point (simulation).

In this lesson, the subject hears two schedules of clicks through headphones and reacts by pressing a pushbutton hand switch as quickly as possible to demonstrate the effect of learning and physiological processes on reaction times. This video shows calibration for the lesson.

In this lesson, the subject hears two schedules of clicks through headphones and reacts by pressing a pushbutton hand switch as quickly as possible to demonstrate the effect of learning and physiological processes on reaction times. This video shows recording in the lesson.

In this lesson, record and analyze Forced Vital Capacity, Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1, 2, 3) and Maximal Voluntary Ventilation (MVV) to build on the principles established in Lesson 12. This video demonstrates MVV recording in the lesson.

In this lesson, record ECG, heart rate and electrodermal activity, and try to influence heart rate and EDA (GSR) to control the position of a bar graph to demonstrate the principles of biofeedback training for relaxation purposes. This video shows calibration for the lesson.

In this lesson, record ECG, heart rate, airflow and skin temperature as the body responds to changing metabolic demands. This video demonstrates recording in the lesson.

In this lesson, record arterial blood pressure using the ausculatory (cuff) technique, Korotkoff sounds using an amplified stethoscope, and ECG using Lead II. This video shows calibration for the lesson with an SS19L blood pressure cuff transducer.

In this lesson, record and examine properties of spinal neuromuscular reflexes commonly tested in physical diagnosis. This video shows calibration for the lesson.

Biopac Student Lab 2-Channel MP45 Systems are a cost-effective, introductory physiology teaching solution. The integrated system of BSL hardware, software, and curriculum allows students to record data from their own bodies to study ECG, EEG, EMG, EOG, Pulmonary Function (FVC, FEV_1,2,3 and MVV), Systemic Blood Pressure, and Heart Sounds. Students follow intuitive, guided physiology lessons or create their own experimental designs for active learning or advanced research. Ideal for nursing and health science programs.

Biopac Student Lab teaching system for Animal Physiology with 30+ lessons. The integrated system of hardware, software, and curriculum allows students to record from their own bodies to explore basic concepts (i.e., ECG, EMG), and work with frogs, earthworms, crawdad, and other animals to study the heart, muscle function, membrane potential, and more. Students can perform intuitive guided physiology lessons or create their own experimental designs for advanced research.

The Biopac Student Lab Biology System includes 52 lessons for ECG, EEG, EMG, EOG, EGG, respiration and pulmonary function, blood pressure, cardiac output, autonomic nervous system, and more. This system can record signals from cells, organs, insects, animals and human subjects to facilitate a broad spectrum of application opportunities.

The BSL Biomedical Engineering System includes hardware, software, and curriculum for extensive recording and analysis options for signal processing curriculum—including bioelectric and biomechanical studies—as well as additional active learning segments in those lessons or student designed experiments. A key component of the BSL BME System is the Signal Processing Lab Guide—a series of 8 breadboard labs that explain how to create and test electronic circuits to demonstrate principles of biophysics and biological measurement.

Biopac Student Lab teaching system for Exercise Physiology and Biomechanics with over 27 lessons and student-designed experiments. The integrated system of hardware,  software, and curriculum that allows students to record from their owns bodies. This system combines a wide range of respiratory, cardiovascular, muscular, and/or pulmonary function signals with biomechanical data so students can perform intuitive guided physiology lessons or create their own experimental designs for advanced research.

Biopac Student Lab teaching system for Human Physiology with over 25 lessons and student-designed experiments. The integrated system of hardware,  software, and curriculum allows students to record from their own bodies. This system combines a wide range of circulatory system, respiratory system, muscular function, brain function, ANS, exercise physiology, and neuronal physiology function so students can perform intuitive guided physiology lessons or create their own experimental designs for advanced research.

Biopac Student Lab teaching system for Pharmacology and Toxicology, with over 29 targeted lessons from the BSL Laboratory manual and BSL PRO lessons plus active learning options for student designed experiments. This integrated system of hardware, software, and curriculum allows students to record and analyze data from their own bodies, animals, or tissue preps to study a wide range of cardiovascular hemodynamics, respiratory system & pulmonary function, in vitro tissue, and cellular studies. Learn more about BSL Pharmacology/Toxicology teaching systems.

Biopac Student Lab Psychophysiology & Neurophysiology Teaching System with over 28 targeted lessons from the BSL Laboratory manual and BSL PRO lessons, plus active learning options for student designed experiments. This integrated system of hardware, software, and curriculum allows students to record from their owns bodies. This system can be used to study a wide range of respiratory, cardiovascular, muscular, and/or pulmonary function signals.

Learn about functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technology designed for educational settings. fNIRS for Education is a stand-alone functional imaging solution for continuous NIR spectroscopy—built for the classroom—including curriculum materials, hardware, and software for four new Biopac Student Lab Lessons. Using hands-on and active learning exercises, students measure muscle oxygenation and brain function by following step-by-step instructions written by Professor Meltem Izzetoglu from Villanova University. These lessons help prepare students for professions in clinical and research settings within psychology, neuroscience, sports medicine, physical therapy, speech pathology, education, and biomedical engineering. See fNIR103E.

Students record fNIRS measurements to study changes in HbR and HbO₂ during a cuff experiment, to explore the effect of gravity on blood flow, and to investigate hemodynamic changes related to muscle activity. Used in conjunction with fNIR103E.

Students record fNIRS measurements from the forehead while performing various activities to explore the effects of head movement, blood pressure changes and skin effects on raw intensity measurements and on HbR, HbO₂ and HbT signals. Used in conjunction with fNIR103E.

Students record fNIRS measurements from the forehead while performing a cognitive test, namely the verbal fluency test. You will obtain changes in HbO₂ and HbR under different conditions within this cognitive test. Included with fNIR103E.

Students record fNIRS measurements from the forehead while performing a test of different cognitive loads manipulated as single and dual task conditions. Included with fNIR103E.

fNIRS Lessons prepare students for professions in clinical and research settings, including: Psychology, Neuroscience, Sports Medicine, Physical Therapy, Speech Pathology, Education, and Biomedical Engineering. These lessons come in the package with fNIR103E.

Nerve conduction recording and analysis with Biopac Student Lab: record and measure nerve conduction velocity along the ulnar nerve of a human subject. See BSL PRO H03 for details.

With assistance from a UCSB Instructional Improvement Mini-Grant, the Sherman Lab at UC Santa Barbara produced a video for Psychology 150L: Laboratory in Social Psychology on using the psychophysiology equipment in the Jim Blascovich Lab for Psychological Science at the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences. The laboratory lesson is on the impact of social support on physiological stress responses. The video was produced by David Sherman, edited by Roxie Chuang, and features Alan Macy, a founder of BIOPAC Systems Inc., along with teaching assistants and students from Psych 150L.  If you would like to use the laboratory activity, contact Prof. David Sherman. Concepts discussed: psychophysiological indices; sympathetic vs. parasympathetic responses; affect vs. emotion; and the Circumplex Model of Affect. Biopac Student Lab equipment used: MP36 Psychophysiology Lab System; SS2LB lead set for ECG Lead II and derived Heart Rate; and SS57LA EDA lead set for eccrine activity.

BSL software is provided in a .ZIP “zipped” folder and this short video shows how to “unzip” the folder on macOS.

BSL software is provided in a .ZIP “zipped” folder and this short video shows how to “unzip” the folder on Windows.

The Biopac Student Lab is an integrated system of hardware, software, and curriculum used by thousands of labs worldwide at two-year, four-year, nursing, and medical schools for undergraduate and graduate life science studies. BSL is offered in Basic, Advanced, and Ultimate Systems for general life science teaching, or targeted systems for specific departments. Each system comes with components specific to teaching the appropriate discipline lessons. This overview details the components included in the BSL Basic, Advanced, and Ultimate systems. These packages include everything you need to run targeted lessons from the BSL Laboratory manual and BSL PRO lessons and supports additional active learning segments in those lessons or student designed experiments.  Biopac Student Lab