Bluetooth R-R sensors

[willtaylor]

A question, &/or Nudge -
I'm using a Polar HR sensor, paired with a variety of iOS APPS on my iPhone (HRV Logger, HeartRate+, others), for HRV logging & realtime ambulatory feedback. Am wondering if you've considered enabling Alive to interface with such devices for R-R sampling & HRV monitoring/feedback? This might be handy, & the short-range ambulatory capability might be very nice in the rehab gym setting. A multidisciplinary brain injury program I'm participating in (s/p stroke, tho most participants are s/p traumatic brain injury; they also work with chronic pain & occupational injury/disability) is using HRV biofeedback in rehab, I & can really see this working nicely interfaced with PT activities, with the superior recording/display capabilities of Alive clinical & Pioneer.

[willtaylor]

appears that Thought Technology offers a bluetooth receiver for the Polar T31 chest strap HR transmitter, for their ProComp platform; this is the kind of gizmo I'm thinking of. My Polar H7 works very nicely with the iOS APPs noted above.

[Ryan Deluz]

Hi Will,

Actually we have 2 options available similar to this.

1) The iFeel Sensor is a new Bluetooth sensor that works with all versions of Alive. It also works nicely with the GP8 Amp.
www.somaticvision.com/iFeel

2) We have Android apps which work with both the iFeel sensor and/or the Polar H7.
www.somaticvision.com/iFeelAndroid

So, the iFeel Sensor can be used on Android, Windows and Mac. The Android games can be used with the iFeel and/or Polar H7.

The iFeel Sensor is a really excellent sensor, very comfortable, and super high quality (few movement errors, especially after a minute of calibration, very high accuracy). I highly recommend you purchase it, along with the soft-rubber sensor.

The Android Apps also save sessions with heart rate lists that can be opened in Kubios or other software if you want to do some in-depth analysis after.

Best,

Ryan

[willtaylor]

Thanks, Ryan.
I'll start saving toward the iFeel unit. Some questions:

this is a photoplethysmograhic sensor (finger or ear), right? Not an ecg R-R sensor like the Polar units.
It appears this sends raw pulse wave data? So Alive will be able to display BVP from it?

re the Android games - any plans for porting this application to iOS as well? (tempting enough to spill the $100 for an Android tablet if not, but iOS would be nice ...)

Wondering if there might be plans for an Alive PC/Mac interface to the Polar H7/H10 bluetooth R-R sensors, or similar low-energy bluetooth HR monitors?

[Ryan Deluz]

Hi Will,

Yes PPG. Although its possible to get ECG to be more accurate than PPG, practically this often not the case. Small movements can introduce a lot of noise into ECG, especially ECG measured at a single point like in the Polar sensor. The Polar H7 is pretty good for a running monitor (most others are only accurate for average heart rate). In my experience, we get a better signal / much fewer movement artifacts from the iFeel Sensor than a single channel ECG.

Alive displays and can train BVP (raw pulse wave).

iOS will probably come eventually. We will start working on this but its a long road.

It is possible that we will add an Alive interface to the Polar sensor on desktop, but it takes a lot of work, and would end up as a free upgrade, so I'd need to know there was a substantial amount of interest, or someone willing to pay for that feature to be added for a study or such.

[willtaylor]

OK, ordered me up an iFeel unit. I gather this will connect with my Pioneer installation and it is? (I have both eMwave & IOM connectivity, on a Mac with bluetooth capability). Will spring for the Android APPs once I can finagle an inexpensive Android tablet. (too many devices for our short time on this earth).

[willtaylor]

Got my iFeel unit, & with some help from Ryan (thanks!) have it running nicely now natively in OS X Sierra on my little MacBook Air with Alive 2.3.0.7 Pioneer version & Dreamscapes. Extended to a 2nd monitor using an iPad mini & the Duet APP, connected via the iPad charging cable, for a highly portable 2-monitor setup. The iFeel movement-tolerant finger sensor is a very nice addition, well-engineered, comfortable in use & tolerant of movement & ambient light as advertised.
Have assembled a good collection of custom music for Alive Environments & Dreamscapes, so I don't need to relive my Pachelbel's Canon nightmare ;^).
Alternatively using IOM or emWave sensors, but really appreciating the iFeel's PPG sensor, as well as the freedom afforded by its Bluetooth connectivity.