The StressEraser is used to relax the wearer. I have also seen devices that monitor sleep (SleepTracker), and blood content (GlucoWatch). Anybody knows if some people really use such equipment? * [SleepTracker] http://www.sleeptracker.com * [GlucoWatch] http://www.glucowatch.com For the GlucoWatch we even have a publication: > Tierney, M., Tamada, J., Potts, R., Jovanovic, L., Garg, S., > and Cygnus. Clinical evaluation of the GlucoWatch > biographer: a continual, non-invasive glucose monitor for > patients with diabetes. Biosensors and Bioelectronics,16, 9 > (2001), 621-629. -- Sebastien Duval, from Tokyo (Japan) SOKENDAI - National Institute of Informatics ---- Source: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/mar06/3044 > Calm in Your Palm By: Samuel K. Moore Biofeedback device promises to > reduce stress > > Standing in front of a room of over a hundred software developers at > the height of the dot-com boom, Michael Wood suffered a paralyzing > panic attack. Wood had reached the end of his tether after months of > grinding work and regular commutes between New York City and London. > He quit his job and devoted himself to understanding—and > beating—stress. > > The result is a sleek, solid, handheld biofeedback device called the > StressEraser, built by New York Citybased Helicor Inc., which Wood > founded with his business partner, Adam Forbes. Essentially, the > StressEraser is an aid for deep breathing exercises, which are > commonly prescribed to alleviate stress. The device tells you just > when to inhale and when to stop. It does this by divining the state > of your nervous system by some clever analysis of your heart rate—and > thus indicating when you should take those deep, relaxing breaths. > > Basically, the device is a pulse oximeter integrated with a display > and a microprocessor. Pulse oximeters identify heartbeats by the > variation in the amount of light absorbed through the skin of your > finger as fresh blood pulses through it. The StressEraser monitors > your heart rate to identify the activity level of the vagus nerve, > one of 12 nerves that emanate directly from your brain rather than > through your spinal cord. The vagus nerve connects with your heart, > lungs, stomach, and all the other organs in your gut. It carries a > variety of mellowing signals from the brain, such as the one that > tells your stomach to slacken when you start eating and your heart to > slow down when it's time to relax. [For the vagus nerve's role in > depression, see "Psychiatry's Shocking New Tools," in this issue.] > > The relaxation signal is the one the StressEraser is programmed to > measure. Under the influence of vagus nerve activity, your heart rate > is almost always either accelerating or decelerating. Medical > researchers have known for decades that you can deduce what's going > on with the vagus nerve by following these heart-rate variations. > Roughly, when the time between two heartbeats doubles, the amount of > vagus nerve activity doubles, too. Wood and Forbes built on this > observation by working out, over four years, algorithms that can > predict when the nerve activity is about to peak and detect the start > and end points of a wave of activity. > > The StressEraser uses all this information to help you relax. You're > relaxed when vagus nerve activity is gently rising and falling. > Breathing exercises can produce this state, and they're most > effective when your breathing is synchronized with your vagus nerve > activity. The StressEraser tracks this activity and gives you an > audible and visual cue just ahead of the nerve's peak activity by > plotting tiny changes in your heart rate as a line moving across the > device's screen [see photo, "Sit Back and Relax"]. At the cue, you > exhale, counting in your head to a prespecified number, then you > inhale until the next cue as shown by the plot. The counting gives > you something to focus on, rather than letting your mind wander to > bothersome thoughts, and you can adjust the number you count up to, > based on what's most comfortable for you. What you're trying to > achieve is large, smooth sinusoidal changes in your heart rate. The > StressEraser rates your sinusoid on a scale of one to three, with one > being the roughest and three being the smoothest. Unlike other > biofeedback products, the device will give you a low score if your > relaxation is interrupted by emotionally charged thoughts, which show > up as a jaggedness in the heart-rate waveform. This feedback teaches > you to let go of those thoughts. > > In all fairness, I'm a tough nut for this kind of product to crack. > First, I find it difficult to stick to any kind of routine that > involves self-indulgence. I can't get to the gym regularly or > reliably remember to pack a lunch. So managing to use the device > three times a day for a whole week, as recommended, was out of my > reach. Luckily, guilt is an excellent motivator. I happened to run > into Helicor's Forbes at least three times while I was reviewing the > device. Each of those encounters led to a renewed dedication to spend > time staring at my heart-rate waveform. > > My second problem is that I'm one of the more mellow people I know. > So I couldn't very well expect a revolutionary decrease in my stress > level. That said, the device did relax me in every environment I > tried it in. A usually tension-inducing subway ride home was almost > refreshing. I nearly fell asleep in my office during one afternoon > session. And my ability to concentrate while working amid the clutter > of home seemed a bit improved following 5 minutes of > technology-assisted breathing. > > The StressEraser is easy to use and well designed, having a slim > stainless steel exterior that lends the device a bit of gravitas. My > only quibble is that I would have preferred a button marked "menu" > that would allow you to adjust all the device's key settings, such as > whether or not the cue is audible. Instead, setting adjustments are > distributed among the three buttons on the device. > > At a price of $399, the StressEraser is primarily intended to be > prescribed by physicians, but anyone can buy one. Helicor certainly > means it to be taken seriously as a medical device and is > manufacturing it under U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines > and participating in clinical trials. Two of those trials, for the > device's use in insomnia and in general anxiety, should be complete a > few months from now. Soon, stressed folks all over could be breathing > easier. ---- _______________________________________________ Wear-Hard mailing listhttp://www.haven.org/mailman/listinfo/wear-hard
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