The overall goal of this procedure is to monitor perspiration patterns with a newly developed wireless device. The main advantage of this technique is that both the amount and temporal pattern of perspiration can be monitored by just attaching the device to the skin. Since this is a new device, visual demonstration of this method is critical as the preparation and usage of the device are difficult to learn.
First, check the perspiration monitoring device to ensure that the battery has not been inserted. Then, plug the white connector of the USB serial port conversion interface to the receptacle at the at the top of the perspiration monitoring device. Next, execute the perspiration recording software.
Open the Settings tab and set the COM number to the ID number of the serial port. Click the Confirm Connection button and check if the message, Connected, appears. Within the Data File Folder settings, choose the drive and select the folder where the perspiration data will be saved.
Set the Number of Holes to four. Open the Measure and Rec tab and set the Time Interval to the desired sample time. Then, insert a battery into the perspiration monitoring device.
Fill the device with dry silica gel and close the lid. Finally, click the Start Logging Now button in the perspiration recording software. Begin by cleansing the skin at the recording location with an alcohol swab.
Use electrode paste to place the anode, cathode, and grounding electrode on the palm, back of the hand, and wrist respectively. Fix the electrodes with medical tape. On the instrumentation amplifier, turn the Sensitivity knob to one millivolt per volt, the Lo Cut filter to 0.5 hertz, and the Hi Cut filter to three kilohertz.
Finally, execute the sympathetic skin response, or SSR recording software, and click the Start Measurement button to begin the recording at the sample rate of 200 hertz. Begin by placing medical double sided tape on the bottom of the perspiration monitoring device without obstructing the four holes at the bottom of the device. Disconnect the perspiration monitoring device from the USB serial port conversation interface and immediately ensure that the perspiration monitoring begins automatically by checking if the LED lamp is blinking.
Next, remove the release liner of the medical double sided tape and put the perspiration monitoring device on the skin where perspiration is to be monitored. Wait 10 minutes for stabilization of water vapor diffusion, then start the sympathetic activity test. After the examination, remove the perspiration monitoring device from the skin.
Click the Stop Measurement button in the SSR recording software to stop the SSR recording and remove all electrodes from the skin. To perform the perspiration analysis, first connect the perspiration monitoring device to the USB serial port conversion interface. Then, open the perspiration monitoring software, click the Settings tab, and click the Confirm Connection button.
Then, open the Measure and Rec tab and click the Download button to save the raw data of the device in the specified folder. Finally, select the Analysis tab and click Read Data File. Observe the open file dialog popup.
Select the saved file and then click the Open button to allow the software to complete the analysis. As a result of the sympathetic activity test, palmar perspiration along with the SSR reaction was observed in response to the sympathetic activities, such as taking a deep inspiration or doing a mental calculation. Furthermore, a one hour recording of perspiration at the palm and the anterior chest showed distinct patterns according to different activities.
After watching this video you should have a good understanding of how to use this novel wireless device for measuring the perspiration.
