CTSC:monitoring.system

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Description of the PowerLab system

Please note that this system is for research use only and is not intended for clinical, treatment, or diagnostic use.

The PowerLab system (http://www.ADInstruments.com) is a physiological monitoring system that can be use in MRI suites. This modular physiological monitoring system includes equipment to measure heart rate, electrodermal skin conductance (galvanic skin response or GSR) and respiration rate. Additional recording channels allow each investigator to collect behavioral or other data simultaneously within the same acquisition system. Each acquisition channel can be independently configured for software filtering of the signals, and "on the fly" data analysis. Data are collected on a PC, but data files can be saved in either PC or Mac format for later analysis in the investigator’s preferred format.

An MRI compatible AD Instruments Power Lab physiological monitoring system was already used in the Clinical Research Center Biomedical Imaging Core at MGH in Charlestown. This system was deemed highly desirable by other Harvard Catalyst sites. Thus, thanks to the Harvard Catalyst support we are adding an additional monitoring system at MGH and also other sites (MIT, Harvard, BWH, BIDMC and Children's Hospital) are being equipped with the same system.

How to request use of the Powerlab physiological monitoring system

If you would like to use the PowerLab physiological monitoring system, you need to fill a request form by clicking on "Request Consultation" and complete the webform at this URL: http://catalyst.harvard.edu/services/imagingconsult/. In the box "reason for consultation", please mention that you are would like to use the monitoring system with a brief description of your project. Do not forget to mention the location (MIT or MGH Martinos Center). If you are an investigator from MIT or BU and do not have an e-commons username yet, please contact Valerie Humblet [1] to request the monitoring system. As member of the Harvard Catalyst Imaging Consortium, we are required to keep a log of our activities to report to NIH who provides our funding. Note that the use of the physiological monitoring system is absolutely free of charge for you.
Training: if you have never used the monitoring system before, please let us know when you fill your request so we will be able to set up some free training as well before you start your experiments.

Downloading & Installing LabChart 6 Pro, Modules, & Extensions

Rather than passing the installer disks among all of the end users, it may be easier if you get the software from ADinstruments website. Note, there will be laptops with the systems for recording data. However, you may want to put the software on your personal computer for analysis. You will also want a place to save and work with your settings files.

To download LabChart 6 and the associated analysis modules and extensions please register at the site below. To register you will need the PowerLab serial number. This can be found on the back of the PowerLab data acquisition system or you can contact your site administrator.

Registration Form http://www.adinstruments.com/register/research/

Using the Username and Password emailed to you after registration, you can download LabChart 6 and all of the Modules and Extensions of interest from the link below. Please browse through all of the Modules and Extensions to see which may be of interest to you. In the past, researchers with similar applications have used the ECG Analysis Module, Blood Pressure Module, Peak Analysis Module, Digital Output Extension, Event Manager Extension, and Export MATLAB Extension. There was also a demand for the Fast Response extension. This extension will monitor your data and can be used to look for a threshold and then provide warnings or turn equipment on and off using the digital output. ECG, Blood Pressure, and Peak Analysis can be used for advanced analysis of the specified signals. Digital Output, Fast Response, and Event Manager can be used to send TTL Outputs to interface the PowerLab system with your scanner or other equipment.

Once you have downloaded all of the software installers to your desktop you can begin installation. Install LabChart 6 first and then install all of the associated Modules and Extensions.

After installation, the first time you go to open the software, you will be asked for license codes. These license codes are on the back of the disks provided with the system. You can get them from your site administrator or from the case directly. You will need LabChart 6 Departmental License and LabChart 6 Pro License.

Download the latest software updates http://www.adinstruments.com/updates/research/

Learning How to use LabChart 6 and the PowerLab System

The most effective way to become efficient in using this software for acquisition and analysis is to go through the tutorials and LabChart 6 Manual.

Open LabChart 6, go to Help > LabChart 6 Help > Help Center. On the left of the help menu under “Contents” click on Tutorials. From here, you can use the green arrows at the top right of the screen to navigate through the tutorials and the rest of the manual page by page. This may seem like a waste of time, especially for some of you who have used the system before. However, it is strongly recommend that you go through every page of the manual from start to finish. This may take a couple of hours, but in the end it may save you hours each day by automating analysis and acquisition that you would otherwise be stuck doing by hand. You may find one simple piece of information that can save you a large amount of time. After going through this once, you can always go back to the Help Menu and use the search tab if you have specific questions.

• Detailed instructions of the power lab physiological data collection setup in Bay 2/3/4 at MGH.

This link to the MGH Clinical Research Center Biomedical Imaging Core, http://www2.massgeneral.org/crc/bic/powerLabDataCollectionBay.htm, gives you a good overview of the system and its general setup.