Browsing by Author "Teach, Heather"

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    CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF THE GALVANIC SKIN RESPONSE
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Teach, Heather; Igega, Christele; Schild, John; Carpenter, Janet
    Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) is an objective measurement of the electrical conductance of the skin. GSR is tightly correlated with peripheral sweat rate, which in turn is associated with many clinical conditions. These conditions include, but are not limited to, menopausal “hot flashes”, diabetic hypoglycemic and hyperglycemic episodes, and various cancers. The objective quantification of GSR can be a valuable clinical tool in evaluating the effectiveness of clinical interventions for these and other conditions. Current methods of monitoring GSR are not well suited to implementation outside of the clinical setting. The goal of this research is to develop a reliable portable device for real-time ambulatory monitoring of GSR. In order to get accurate and consistent readings, electrodes must be attached to the patient with a lasting and non-irritating electrically conductive gel with suitable impedance characteristics. Development of such a device requires consideration of many physiological factors. The distribution and density of sweat glands must be considered to determine a location for the device on the body that will yield measurable GSR without interfering with the patient’s daily activities. We are in the process of evaluating the electrical impedance of electrode and gel combinations presently used in the Carpenter lab. Quantification of the frequency dependent loading profile of the electrode-gel interface will improve the measurement accuracy of the GSR. The ionic composition of sweat and the sweat rate must be evaluated to ensure that the integrity of the interface between the body and the device is maintained throughout the monitoring period. 1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Purdue School of Engineering and Technology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, IN 46204 2Center for Enhancing Quality of Life, Indiana University School of Nursing, IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN 46204
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    ROLE OF SWEAT GLAND PHYSIOLOGY IN OBJECTIVE GALVANIC SKIN RE-SPONSE MEASUREMENT
    (Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 2012-04-13) Igega, Christele M.; Schild, John; Teach, Heather; Carpenter, Janet S.
    For the purpose of studying sweat in response to hot flashes, a type of thermal sweating, the process of extensive literature review performed in this particular project focused primarily on the eccrine sweat glands. Of the three categories of sweat glands, eccrine sweat glands account for the ma-jority of the sweat glands on the human body, existing over almost the en-tire body surface, and contributing to thermal sweating. Thermal sweating occurs as a means for the human body to regulate temperature (Johnson 1996). There are approximately 1.6 to 5 million eccrine sweat glands dis-tributed over the surface of the human body. Sweat gland density varies across different regions of the body, with the highest density on the palms of hands and soles of feet, while the lowest sweat gland density of 64 sweat glands per square centimeter is found on the back (Wilke et al., 2007). Wa-ter comprises approximately 99% of eccrine sweat, with the remaining com-pounds consisting mostly of varying amounts of sodium, potassium, calcium, and magnesium (Groscurth, 2002). The Galvanic Skin Response is an objec-tive measure of skin conductance that has been linked with the peripheral sweat rate (Carpenter et al., 2005). Importance has been put upon the po-tential clinical significance of using the Galvanic Skin Response to objectively enumerate the influence and effectiveness of interventions for health related issues in which sweating is a substantial symptom (Tataryn et al., 1981). One of the objectives of this research is to determine the effect that various sweat gland physiological factors, such as density, ionic composition, and sweat rate, may have on the accuracy of different Galvanic Skin Response measurement techniques and devices. 1Center for Enhancing Quality of Life, Indiana University School of Nursing, IUPUI, Indian-apolis, IN 46202