A DIGITAL TELEMETRY MONITOR WITH MODULAR FEATURES

THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP AND EVALUATE A MODULAR DIGITAL TELEMETRY SYSTEM CAPABLE OF RECORDING VARIOUS PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS ON 16 INDEPENDENT CHANNELS. IT WILL FULLY INTEGRATE A POWERFUL MICROPROCESSOR WITH THE MEASUREMENT FUNCTION OF A POLYGRAPH AND IS INTENDED TO REPLACE THE CUMBERSOME POLYGRAPH EQUIPMENT COMMONLY USED IN PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL RESEARCH TODAY. THE SYSTEM WILL CONSIST OF TWO PARTS: A COMPACT TRANSMITTER UNIT BASED ON SOPHISTICATED MICROCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND A RECEIVER UNIT THAT IS ESSENTIALLY AN INEXPENSIVE PERSONAL COMPUTER. THREE MEASUREMENT MODULES WILL BE DEVELOPED FOR THE TRANSMITTER UNIT: A DUAL-CHANNEL WIDE-BAND AC AMPLIFIER,A DC AMPLIFIER, AND AN ACTIVITY MONITOR FUNCTION. WITH FIVEOTHER MODULE TYPES DEVELOPED FOR A PREVIOUS PROJECT, A RESEARCHER COULD MONITOR ANY COMBINATION OF ECG, EEG, MUSCLEACTIVITY, RESPIRATION, AND SKIN CONDUCTANCE SIGNALS. THE EVALUATION PROCEDURE INCLUDES THREE SERIES OF TESTS TO CHALLENGE THE SYTEM'S CAPABILITIES IN SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT FIELD SETTINGS. THE FIRST ATTEMPTS TO IDENTIFY THE VISUAL STRESSORS RESPONSIBLE FOR EYE FATIGUE COMMONLY LINKED TO THE USE OF VIDEO DISPLAY TERMINALS IN THE WORKPLACE. THE SECOND WILL EXAMINE SLOW BRAIN POTENTIALS OCCURRING IN ANTICIPATION OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN HUMAN INFANTS. THE THIRD EXPLORES THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRITICAL BAND FILTERING IN INFANTS.