biopac student lab

Biopac Student LabVersion 3.0.3

PC running Windows

or Macintosh

BASIC TUTORIAL

Running the Biopac Student Lab — page 3

Locating files in Review Saved Data mode — page 4

Important Concepts — pages 6, 7, 10

Display functions — page 11

Measurements — page 21

Markers — page 26

Journal functions — page 28

Printing — page 31

Saving — page 33

Jocelyn KremerDocumentation

BIOPAC Systems, Inc.

William McMullenVice President

BIOPAC Systems, Inc.

BIOPAC Systems, Inc.42 Aero Camino, Santa Barbara, CA

93117

Phone (805) 685-0066

Fax (805) 685-0067

Email: [email protected]

Web Site: http://www.biopac.com

[05141999]

2 Biopac Student Lab

CopyrightInformation in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitmenton the part of BIOPAC Systems, Inc. This tutorial and the software it describes are copyrighted with allrights reserved. Under copyright laws, this tutorial or the software may not be copied, in whole or part,without the written consent of BIOPAC Systems, Inc., except in the normal use of the software or tomake a backup copy.

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Biopac Student Lab Tutorial, including all text and graphics, are ©1998 BIOPAC Systems, Inc., with allrights reserved.

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This warranty applies only if your BIOPAC Systems, Inc. product fails to function properly undernormal use and within the manufacturer’s specifications. This warranty does not apply if, in the soleopinion of BIOPAC Systems, Inc., your BIOPAC Systems, Inc. product has been damaged by accident,misuse, neglect, improper packing, shipping, modification, or servicing by other than BIOPAC Systems,Inc.

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BIOPAC Systems, Inc. makes no warranty or representation, either expressed or implied, with respect tothis software, its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. As a result,this software is sold “as is” and you, the Buyer, are assuming the entire risk as to its quality andperformance.

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TrademarksBiopac Student Lab is a trademark of BIOPAC Systems, Inc.

Apple and Macintosh are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

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This document was created with Microsoft Word for Windows, Adobe Photoshop, Corel Draw 7.0.Mainstay Capture, and JASC, Inc. JasCapture.

Basic Tutorial 3

Welcome to the Biopac Student Lab!To learn how the Biopac Student Lab works and how it can make your work easier, you can eithercomplete this interactive Tutorial or read Recording Mode Basics and Analysis Mode Basics in theOrientation Chapter.

Running the Biopac Student Lab

To use this Tutorial, you need to open the SampleData file. To begin, follow the simple steps below.

1. Turn the computer ON.

2. Start the Biopac Student Labprogram as follows:

PC users

¾ Use the Windows “Start”menu to open the “BiopacStudent Lab” program.

To launch the program on a PC running Windows 95®, use theStart menu as shown (or open BSL.EXE):

Mac users

¾ Open the BIOPAC StudentLab folder.

To launch the program on a Mac, locate and open the BIOPACStudent Lab folder on the desktop. If it isn’t there, ask your LabInstructor for assistance.

¾ Double-click on theapplication icon

Next, double-click on the BIOPAC Student Lab icon.

3. A message regarding hardwaremay appear.

If there is no hardware connected, the following message willappear:

PC users

¾ For this tutorial (and allfuture analysis), clickCancel.


Mac users

¾ For this tutorial (and allfuture analysis), click Nohardware.

4. Next you will be prompted tochoose a lesson.

¾ For this tutorial (and for allfuture analysis), selectReview saved data andclick OK .

You may have to scroll down to Review Saved Data.

5. Open the Data Files folder.

¾ PC users — your programmay open the Data Filesfor you. If so, skip to thenext step.

Open the Data Files folder, which is in the Biopac Student Labprogram folder.

6. Open the SampleData folder. Open the SampleData folder, which is in the Data Files folder.

Basic Tutorial 5

7. Open the SampleData-L07 file. Select and open the SampleData-L07 file, which is in theSampleData folder.

Now you are ready to start the Tutorial!

The Tutorial begins by introducing three basic concepts that make the Biopac Student Lab unique andpowerful, and then provides detailed instructions on how to use important features of the program. You canhave fun experimenting with the display and analysis functions of the Biopac Student Lab.

Don’t worry — you can’t lose or damage the SampleData-L07 file.


Part A — Important Concepts

IMPORTANT CONCEPT #1There is a Data window and a Journal and each is saved as a separate file.

¾ The Data window displays the waveforms and is where you will perform your measurements andanalysis.

¾ The Journal is where you will make notes. You can extract information from the Data windowand put it in the Journal and you can export the Journal to other programs for further analysis.

8. Review the display to identifythe Data Window and theJournal.

¾ The Data Windowdisplays waveform(s)during and after recording,and is also called the"Graph Window."

¾ The Journal works like astandard word processor tostore recording notes andmeasurements.

The Sample-L07 file should open as shown:

Display windows of the Biopac Student Lab

Basic Tutorial 7

IMPORTANT CONCEPT #2The BSL allows you complete flexibility in how the data is viewed. Chart recorders lock you into oneview, but with the BSL you can expand or compress the visual scales to aid in data analysis. The Datawindow display is completely adjustable, which makes data viewing and analysis easier.

¾ Zoom in on specific segments to take measurements, examine anomalies, etc.

¾ View the entire record at one time to look for trends, locate anomalies, etc.

¾ Hide a channel from view or view multiple channels.

¾ Overlap channels for easier comparison.

Zoom

9. Click on the zoom icon. The zoom icon is in the lower right of the data window.

10. Position the cursor in the CH 1ECG band at about 5.00seconds, then click and hold themouse button down and dragthe cursor to about 10.00seconds.

¾ This will draw a boxaround the area.

The following figure shows an example of a selection made inthe ECG data with the zoom tool.

11. Release the mouse button andreview your result.

When the mouse button is released, the boundaries of theselected area become the new boundaries of the data window.The Zoom function is very useful for expanding a waveform inorder to see more detail.


Scales

12. Move the vertical scroll bar toreposition the Channel 1 ECGwaveform.

¾ Note that the CH 40 Pulsewaveform did not move.This is because the verticalscale is independent foreach channel.

13. Move the horizontal scroll bar.

¾ Note that both waveformsmoved. This is because thehorizontal scale controls allchannels.

14. Pull down the Display menuand select Autoscalehorizontal.

¾ Autoscale horizontal fromis a quick way to fit theentire waveform within thedata window.

15. Pull down the Display menuand select Autoscalewaveforms.

¾ Autoscale waveforms willcenter waveforms in thedisplay window.

Selecting Autoscale horizontaland then Autoscale waveformsis the standard way to quicklyand easily return to your originaldata display.

Show/Hide a channel

16. Hide Channel 40 as follows:

¾ PC — hold the “Ctrl”(Control) key down andclick on the Channel 40 box

¾ Macintosh — hold the“option” key down andclick on the Channel 40box.

The channel 40 box is in the upper left of the data window.When you hide a channel, the data is not lost, but simply hidden,so that you can focus on specific channel(s). Hidden channelscan be brought back into view at any time.

The channel box displays a “slash” when that channel is turnedoff.

Basic Tutorial 9


IMPORTANT CONCEPT #3Measurements are fast, accurate, and automatically updated. The measurement tools are used to extractspecific information from the waveform(s). Measurements are used in the Data Analysis section of everylesson, so understanding their basic operation is important.

Let’s say you wanted to know the heart rate for the sample ECG data. You could get a rough estimate ofthe average heart rate by counting the number of peaks (R-waves) within the first 10 seconds (14 in thisexample) and multiplying by 6 to get the number of beats per minute (84 in this example).

Or, you could take a much easier and more accurate reading with the Student Lab measurement tools.

17. Pull down a measurement typebox and select BPM.

The measurement type box is a pop-up menu next to eachchannel number box that allows you to choose any of the 17Biopac Student Lab measurement functions.

18. Select an area from the peak ofone R-wave to the peak of thenext R-wave using the I-beam.

Click on the I-beam icon to activate the I-beam cursor. If thecorrect region is not established by the “I-Beam” cursor for themeasurement type, the result will be meaningless.

19. Review the result.Results will be automatically updated when

you change the channel selection or the selected area.

Congratulations! You should now recognize the basic concepts and be able to begin using the BiopacStudent Lab for data analysis. For more detailed instruction, complete the full tutorial.

Basic Tutorial 11

Part B — Display Functions20. Show Channel 40 again.

21. Select Autoscale horizontalfrom the Display menu.

22. Select Autoscale waveformsfrom the Display menu.

23. Familiarize yourself with the dataviewing tools and display regionsof the Data Window.

The Biopac Student Lab software has a variety of Display Toolsavailable that allow you to change the data display by adjustingaxis scales, hiding channels, zooming in, adding grids, etc. Thiscan be very useful when you are interested in studying just aportion of a record, or to help you identify and isolate significantdata in the record for reporting and/or analysis.

h o rizo n ta l sca leh o r izo n ta l sc ro l l ba rh o r izo n ta l sc ro l l bo x se le c tion to o l

zo o m to o l

ch an n e l lab e ls

v e rtica l sca le s

v e rtica l sc ro l l b a rv e rtica l sc ro l l b ox

c ha n ne l d isp lay re g ion (C H 1)

c ha n ne l d isp lay re g ion (C H 40 )

less o n d isp lay b u tto n s (ca n v a ry f ro m le sso n to lesso n )

ch an n e l b ox es (D a ta A na ly sis m o d e o n ly )

ac tiv e c h an n e llab e l

Editing and Selection Tools

24. Locate the editing and selectiontool icons in the lower right ofthe Data Window.

A good starting point is to understand the editing and selectiontools. In the lower right of the data window there are three iconsrepresenting the selection tool, the “I-Beam” tool , and the zoomtool.

To select any of these tools simply click the mouse on the desiredicon, and it will darken to indicate it is active (the I-beam isdarkened/active in the picture above). Each tool displays adifferent mouse cursor when it is active. The sample data fileopens with the selection tool active.

25. Click on the I-beam tool andmove the cursor into the channeldisplay region to see how thecursor changes.

The I-Beam icon changes the cursor to and is used toselect an area for measurement, as will be demonstrated later.

26. Click on the zoom tool and movethe cursor into the channeldisplay region to see how thecursor changes.

The zoom icon changes the cursor to and is used toexpand a section of the waveform to see more detail, as will bedemonstrated later.

27. Click on the selection tool andmove the cursor into the channeldisplay region to see how thecursor changes.

The selection icon changes the cursor to and is a general-purpose cursor tool, used for selecting waveforms and scrollingthrough data.


Activate a Channel

28. Locate the Channel boxes in theupper left portion of the datawindow.

In the upper left portion of the data window are the channelboxes. They enable you to identify the active channel and hidechannels from view, so as to concentrate on or print out onlyspecific waveforms at a time. The “active” channel appearsdepressed, and on Macs, there is a label next to the channel boxthat indicates the active channel. In the sample below, CH 1 ECGis the active channel.

(this label appears on Macs only).

29. Mac users only -- Using theselection tool, click on theChannel 40 box to activate it andnotice how the channel label tothe right of the channel boxeschanged to “Pulse” to indicate theactive channel.

To activate another channel simply click on the channel numberbox with the selection tool, and its label will be displayed.

The channel box that is active is the channel that contains thedisplayed label. The label to the right of the channel boxes shouldcorrespond to the label to the left of each channel’s display region.You should notice that the active channel appears to be depressed.

Show/Hide channel

30. Use the selection tool to hideChannel 40 as follows:

¾ PC — hold down the “Ctrl”(Control) key and click onthe Channel 40 box

¾ Macintosh — hold the“option” key down and clickon the Channel 40 box.

Another data viewing feature of the Biopac Student Lab system, isthe ability to hide any of the channels from view. The data for adisabled channel is not lost, but simply hidden, so that the usercan focus on specific channel(s). These hidden channels can bebrought back into view at any time.

The channel box displays a “slash” when that channel is turnedoff.

31. Click on Channel 1 to activate it.

Notice that the label changesfrom “Pulse” to “ECG.”

Hiding an active channel does not prevent it from being the activechannel; you must still select another channel to activate it.

Basic Tutorial 13

Show / Hide Grid Display

32. Pull down the File menu andscroll down to select DisplayPreferences.

Another powerful feature is the ability to Show or Hide the griddisplay. A grid is a series of horizontal and vertical lines thatassist the eye with finding data positions with respect to thehorizontal and vertical scales.

To turn grids on and off in the Review Saved Data mode, simplychoose Display Preferences from the File menu as shown below.

33. Select “Grids” and click on“Ok.”

A window will appear as shown:

34. Select Show Grids to turn thegrid display ON, and click Ok.

(To turn the grid display OFF,select Hide Grids.)

Another window will appear as shown:


35. Review the display with grids.

Note that the Grids display affects all channels. If you show achannel that was hidden when Grids were activated, the griddisplay will show on the channel.

36. Repeat steps 20-22 to HideGrids again.

Scroll - horizontal

37. Locate the horizontal scroll barat the lower edge of the displayand the horizontal scroll boxarrows at the left and right endsof the bar.

You can move to different locations in the record by using thehorizontal scroll bar. In our example, the horizontal scalerepresents time in seconds.

If the entire waveform is being displayed, the scroll bar will dim,and it will not allow changes. If however, you have zoomed orchanged the horizontal scale, such that only a portion of thewaveform is in view, then the scroll bar will be active.

This is a standard Windows style scroll bar (for both Mac andPC). Note that since the horizontal scale applies to all channels inview, it will move every waveform simultaneously.

Basic Tutorial 15

38. Move to different locations in therecord by clicking on the bar, orclicking and holding down themouse button on the horizontalscroll box to “drag” it left orright.

Notice the horizontal scale rangeon the bottom changes to indicateyour position in the record.

39. Move to locations later in therecord by clicking on the arrowon the right end of the scroll bar.

You can click on the arrow andhold down the mouse button tocreate a continuous scroll.

Scroll – vertical

40. Locate the vertical scroll baralong the right edge of thedisplay and the vertical scroll boxarrows at the top and bottom ofthe bar.

A similar scroll bar can be found next to the vertical scale. This isthe vertical scroll bar, and it allows you to move a specificwaveform either up or down. The channel that it moves is the oneshown by the active channel box. To move a different channelclick on corresponding channel box using the selection tool.


41. Move the waveform up byclicking on the arrow on thebottom of the scroll bar. Noticethe vertical scale range on theright side changed.

42. Move the waveform back tocenter by dragging the box to thecenter (zero) position.

43. Choose Autoscale waveform tocenter the waveform in thedisplay window.

Basic Tutorial 17

44. Use the selection tool to showchannel 40 again.

¾ PC — hold down the “Ctrl”(Control) key and click onthe Channel 40 box

¾ Macintosh — hold down the“option” key and click on theChannel 40 box

Scales

45. Identify the horizontal scalealong the bottom of the screenand the vertical scale along theright edge of the screen.

Note that any change you make to the horizontal or vertical scaleonly effects how the waveforms are displayed, and never altersthe saved data file. That is to say, you will never lose any datawhen you change these settings.

Adjust horizontal scale

46. Click anywhere in the horizontalscale region to bring up theadjustment box.

If you click anywhere within the horizontal scale region, awindow will pop up as shown below. This window allows you toprecisely specify the horizontal scale.

47. Read about the Time, Start, andPrecision options to the right

The Time setting defines the number of seconds per divisiondisplayed in the data window. Edit the number like you would in aword processor or double click in the appropriate box and type ina new number

The Start setting defines the placement of the waveforms bysetting the time displayed at the left most portion of the datawindow. Edit the number like you would in a word processor ordouble click in the appropriate box and type in a new number.

The Precision setting controls the number of significant digitsdisplayed in the horizontal scale region. Click and hold down themouse on the precision number. A pop-up menu will appear,allowing you to make another selection.


Changes made in this windowwill be performed after clickingon the “OK ” button.

If no changes are desired, clickon “Cancel.”

Adjust vertical scale

48. Click anywhere in the verticalscale region for Channel 1 tobring up the adjustment box.

Note that the vertical scale isindependent for each channel.

If you click anywhere within the vertical scale region, a windowwill pop as shown below.

Note that the vertical scale is independent for each channel, soyou need to select the appropriate channel prior to clicking on thevertical scale. If the vertical scale you want to change is not theone displayed (in our case CH 1), click on “Cancel” and then clickon the appropriate channel box using the selection tool.

49. Read about the Scale, Midpoint ,Precision, and All channelsoptions to the right.

Scale defines the amplitude per division displayed in verticalscale. Edit the number like you would in a word processor ordouble click in the appropriate box and type in a new number.

Midpoint defines the amplitude value corresponding to the centerof that channel’s vertical scale. Edit the number like you would ina word processor or double click in the appropriate box and typein a new number.

Precision establishes the number of significant digits displayed inthe vertical scale region. Click and hold down the mouse on theprecision number. A pop-up menu will appear, allowing you tomake another selection.

All Channels is a quick way to have the scale setting apply to allof the vertical scales in the data window. This is particularlyuseful when all of the channels are the same type of data (i.e. 2 or3 channels of ECG data). Click in the box. An “X” will appearwhen the option is activated. Repeated clicking in the box willtoggle the option on or off.

50. Changes made in this windowwill be performed after clickingon the “Ok” button.

If no changes are desired, clickon “Cancel.”

Basic Tutorial 19

Zoom

51. Click on the zoom tool icon toselect it.

The zoom tool is very useful for expanding a waveform inorder to see more detail. The zoom function can only be used on asingle channel at a time but effects all channels.

52. Position the cursor at the start ofthe section you’d like to zoom inon, then click and hold the mousebutton down and drag the cursorto draw a box around the area.

If you know the precise section of the waveform that you’d like toenlarge, you can use the Zoom tool to draw a box around the areayou wish to zoom in on. The following figure shows an exampleof a selection made in the ECG data with the zoom tool.

53. Release the mouse button andreview your result.

¾ Note that the vertical scalechanged for the selectedchannel, but the horizontalscale changed for allchannels.

When the mouse button is released, the boundaries of the selectedarea become the new boundaries of the data window, as shown:

The vertical scale will change for the selected channel only, butthe horizontal scale will change for all channels; this is becausethe horizontal (time) scale is the same for all channels.

Display Menu

54. Pull down the Display menu toreview the options.

The Display menu contains even more tools for manipulating thedata display. When you click on Display and hold down themouse, the following options will pop-up:

Display Menu options

To use any of these options, click and hold down the mousebutton on the “Display” menu and drag down to the desiredselection, then release the mouse button.


55. Select Zoom previous to “undo”the Zoom.

After you have zoomed in on a section of the waveform, you may“undo” the zoom and revert to the scale settings (both horizontaland vertical) established prior to the last zoom by selecting Zoomprevious from the Display menu.

The Zoom previous function will only go back one Zoomfunction. You can not select it 6 times, for instance, to go back 6zooms.

56. Activate Channel 1. Click in the Channel 1 channel box to activate it.

57. Move the vertical scroll bar toreposition the Channel 1 ECGwaveform.

These next two steps are so you will be able to see the effect ofthe Autoscale waveform function.

58. Select Channel 40 and move thevertical scroll bar to repositionthe Channel 40 Pulse waveform.

59. Pull down the Display menu andselect Autoscale waveforms.

The Autoscale waveforms option of the Display menu is a veryhandy tool that performs a “best fit” to each channel’s verticalscale. That is, it will adjust the “Scale” and “Midpoint” of eachchannel’s vertical scale, such that the waveform fillsapproximately two-thirds of the available area.

After autoscaling, the “Scale” will probably not be set to niceeven numbers, so you may wish to manually adjust the scaleslightly if even numbers are desired.

Basic Tutorial 21

60. Pull down the Display menu andselect Autoscale horizontal.

Autoscale horizontal from the Display menu is a quick way to fitthe entire waveform within the data window. That is, it will adjustthe horizontal scale such that the left most portion of the screen isthe start of the recording, and the right most portion is the end ofthe recording. The time per division setting, will not necessarilybe nice even numbers.

Part C — Extracting MeasurementsThe Selected Area

61. Read about the Selected Area tothe right.

The “selected area” for all measurements is the area selected bythe I-Beam tool (including the endpoints). Note that the “I-beam”cursor position when the mouse button was first pressed definesthe starting point and the position at release defines the endposition of the selected area.

A critical concept for the measurement tools is that themeasurement results only apply to the area established by the “I-Beam” cursor.

¾ The selected area can be a single point, an area, or the endpoints of a selected area.

¾ If there is no point or area highlighted on the screen,then the measurement results are meaningless.


¾ It is up to you to select a point or an area with the I-Beamcursor, as the software will never do it automatically.

Select a single-point area

62. Click on the I-beam tool icon toactivate it.

63. Move the cursor over a point onthe data.

You will notice that whenever the cursor is over data it isdisplayed as an “I.”

64. Click on the mouse button.

A flashing line should appear atthe cursor position.

When you have a flashing line, you have one point of dataselected. If the line is not flashing, it means that you moved thecursor while the mouse button was pressed, and you actuallyselected more than one point of data. If this occurred simply clickon another portion of data.

one data po in t se lec ted(f lash ing lin e)

65. Click on the selection tool icon todeactivate the point.

When you are finished taking measurements, and wish todeactivate a point, click on the selection tool icon.

Selecting an area (several points)

66. Click on the I-Beam tool icon toactivate it.

67. Move the cursor over a point onthe data.

68. Drag the mouse while keepingthe mouse button held down.

69. Release the mouse button.

¾ An area should behighlighted.

When the mouse button is released, an area should be highlighted(darkened) on the screen, as shown below. This is very similar tohow you select words in a word processing program.

A rea (group o f da ta po in ts) selec ted

Basic Tutorial 23

70. Click the mouse on another pointof data and then click on theselection tool icon to deactivatethe point.

When you are finished taking measurements and wish todeactivate a selected area, click the mouse on another portion ofdata to select just one point (flashing line appears), then click onthe selection tool icon.

Measurement tools

71. Read about Measurement Toolsto the right.

The measurement tools are used to extract specific informationfrom the waveform(s). Measurements are used in the DataAnalysis section of every lesson, so understanding their basicoperation is important.

To use the measurement tools, you must

a) set the channel measurement box to the desired channel

b) select a measurement tool from the pop-up menu

c) select an area for measurement

Note that you can perform these elements in any order, but allthree must be completed to achieve a valid measurement.

Two important points regarding measurements need to bementioned here:

1. The first is that the measurement only applies to data in theselected area of the waveform that the user specifies.

2. The second is that every lesson contains the samemeasurement options, but some may not be applicable to thatparticular lesson. This is because the measurement options area standard set of tools that are always available, much like ascientific calculator contains a standard set of buttons, many ofwhich may not be necessary for any given problem.

72. Locate the channelmeasurement box regions.

Note that there are four channel measurement box regionsshown in the window. The SampleData file contains two channels

of data.

channel m easu rem ent box reg ion s

" I" B eam cu rsor icon

S elec tion cu rso r icon

channel boxes(data analysis m ode on ly )

The measurement box regions can be set to correspond to any ofthe channels shown on the screen. To change to another channel,simply click on its channel box, and read the new label.


73. Review the Channel BoxRegion.

The following figure shows a breakdown of the pieces within theChannel box region:

ch an ne l n um berP op -up m en u

m easu rem e n t typ eP op -up m en u

m easu rem e n t resu lt

Elements of the channel box region

74. Pull down the Channel number[CH] pop-up menu and reviewthe options.

The channel number refers to the channel of data that is activefor that measurement box region. To change a channel number,click and hold down the mouse button over the channel numberbox. A pop-up menu will appear allowing you to make anotherselection.

The selections in the pop-up menu will contain the channels thatwere recorded plus the “SC” option.

75. Position the cursor over a channelbox and pull down the menu toselect the “SC” channel option.

“SC” stands for Selected Channel, and is an optional way to takemeasurements. When SC is selected, the channel the measurementregion refers to is the one indicated by the depressed channel box.

To take a measurement from another channel, you may simplyclick on the desired channel box, or click anywhere within thedata region for the desired channel using the selection tool icon.This allows you to make quick measurement comparisonsbetween channels using one region.

To determine which channel number refers to which waveform,look to the right of the box(es) for the active channel box label.

To “fix” the channel number for the region, simply choose thedesired channel number.

76. Position the cursor over a channelbox and click and hold down themouse button to generate thepop-up menu. Select Channel 1.

If you have a color monitor, the boxes will beoutlined in the corresponding wave color.

Basic Tutorial 25

77. Position the cursor over ameasurement type box and pulldown the measurement tool pop-up menu.

The measurement type box is a pop-up menu next to eachchannel box that allows you to choose any of the 17 BiopacStudent Lab measurement functions. (See the“Elements of thechannel box region” figure on page 24 for a complete list ofmeasurements).

The pop-up measurements always operate on the area you haveselected with the I-beam tool and will update instantly if the areaor measurement changes. For instance, if you choose p-p, you willfind the peak to peak value of the wave in the selected area. If youchoose max, you will get the maximum value of the selected area.

Note that all measurements are available in every lesson, butsome may not be used.

Measurement Result

78. Locate the measurement resultregion.

The measurement result is the value that the measurementcalculates.

Sample BPM reading From time to time, you will want to know specific things aboutthe data on the screen. For example, let’s say you wanted to knowthe heart rate for the sample data.

Since you can see the peaks (R-Wave) in the ECG waveform, youcan get a rough estimate of the average heart rate by counting thenumber of peaks within the first 10 seconds (14 in this example)and multiplying by 6 to get the number of beats per minute (84 inthis example).

79. Activate Channel 1.

80. Adjust the horizontal scale so thatyou can easily identify the R-wave peaks (try .30 seconds/div).

81. Use the I-beam tool to select anarea from the peak of one R-wave to the peak of the next R-wave.

If the correct region is not established by the “I-Beam” cursor forthe measurement type, the result will be meaningless.

82. Set a channel measurement boxto Channel 1, BPM.

83. Review the result.

Your result will vary; this is just an example.


Part D — MarkersMarkers

84. Read about Markers to the right.

Markers are used to reference important locations in the data andappear as inverted triangles within the marker region. Markersmay be automatically inserted in a lesson and/or you may beinstructed when to insert a marker. Additionally, you may wish toadd markers or edit marker text after the recording. The specificelements of markers are shown below:

M ark er To o lsM ark ersM ark er Te x t M ark er R egio n

To insert a marker while the data is being recorded, you mustdepress the Esc key on a Macintosh, or the F9 key on the PC.You may then type in text, which will be linked to that marker.The text is shown in the left portion of the marker region.

The marker that is darkened/colored is the active marker forwhich the marker text shown applies. You may change theactive marker by using the “marker tools” in the right portionof the marker region (see figure above).

85. Click on the right pointingmarker tool.

Clicking on the right pointing marker tool will move to themarker that was placed after the current active marker (if oneexists). Notice the marker label and the data position.

86. Click on the left pointingmarker tool.

Clicking on the left pointing marker tool will move to themarker that was placed prior to the current active marker (if oneexists). Notice the marker label and the data position.

87. Click on the downward pointingmarker tool.

Clicking on the downward pointing marker tool generates apop-up menu as shown:

To choose any of the menu items, simply scroll to the desiredoption and release the mouse button when it is highlighted.

Basic Tutorial 27

88. Review the list of marker labelsat the bottom of the menu andscroll down to select exhale.

All the marker labels in the record will be listed at the bottom ofthe menu. The SampleData file has two markers. You may go to aparticular marker by scrolling down to select its label.

Moving to different markers using this menu may not seem veryrelevant for the SampleData file, but when a lot of data has beenrecorded, it can be a very useful tool.

Add a marker

89. Use the selection tool to click inthe marker region to the right ofthe “exhale” marker to add a newmarker.

90. Label the new marker “testmarker” by entering text at theflashing cursor in the marker textregion.

You may add markers to your data after it has been recordedsimply by clicking within the marker region using the selectiontool. This new marker will then become the current active marker,and you may type in the marker text.

91. Pull down the downward markerarrow and select the Find…option.

92. PC: Enter “awake” whenprompted and click on Find.

Mac: Enter “inhale” whenprompted and click on Find.

The marker menu allows you to Find certain markers by enteringthe marker text you want to locate.

Selecting Find again will move to the next marker with the samelabel (if one exists).

93. If prompted, click Ok to restartmarker search from thebeginning of the record.


Edit marker text

94. Use the selection tool to click inthe marker region and changethe label. For instance, Macusers can change “inhale-holdbreath” to “inhale/hold” usingstandard keyboard functions.

You may edit marker text by using the selection tool to clickwithin the marker region and using the keyboard functions to editthe marker text.

95. Pull down the downward markerarrow and select “Test marker”and to go to it.

96. Pull down the downward markerarrow and select the Clearmarker option to delete the“Test marker.”

The Clear marker option will delete the current active marker.

Selecting Clear all markers will delete all the markers in the file.

It is important to note that you cannot undo a “Clearmarker” or “Clear all markers” function, so thesefunctions should be selected with caution.

Part E — The Journal97. Read about the Journal to the

right.The Review Saved Data mode incorporates a Journal feature soyou can type notes or copy measurements from previously saveddata. You can also copy the data directly to the Journal. TheJournal needs to be the active window for its options to come up.

98. Click anywhere in the Journalwindow to activate it.

Note that when the Journal isthe active window, the title barof the Journal includes sizingand close boxes.

Basic Tutorial 29

Format Journal Entries

99. Pull down the File menu, scrolldown to Journal Preferencesand drag right to selectJournal/Clipboard

100. Review the options that can beset to change the waymeasurements are pasted intothe Journal.

You can set the font style and size and control formatting for text,measurements and wave data.

101. Click in the box next to eachmeasurement paste option boxso that all are selected.

Select these options for the tutorial so that when you pastemeasurements in a few steps you can easily identify them. Whenyou plan to export the measurements to a spreadsheet program(such as Excel), it is best not to select all of the options, as theywill affect the formatting.

102. Click in the “Include timevalues” box of the waveformdata paste options.

Again, make this selection for the tutorial, but you would notnormally select this if you planned to export the wave data to aspreadsheet program.

103. Click Ok to accept the optionchanges.

Time and Date Stamps

104. Position the cursor at the end ofthe journal entries and click onthe clock icon to activate thetime stamp.

Review the Journal.

The Journal is also equipped with stamps for the time and date.It’s always a good idea to time and date stamp the Journal.

The time stamp is the “clock” button at the top left of the Journalwindow. When you click on the clock icon, the current time(according to your computer’s System clock) will be entered inthe Journal at the cursor point.

105. Click on the calendar icon toactivate the date stamp.

Review the Journal.

The date stamp is the “calendar” button to the right of the timestamp. When you click on the calendar icon, the current date(according to your computer’s System calendar) will be entered inthe Journal at the cursor point.


Text entry

106. Place the cursor at the pointyou wish to begin typing andenter text using the standardkeyboard functions.

It’s possible to write anything you want directly in the Journal.Just click on the Journal window and place the cursor at the pointyou wish to begin typing.

To go back to the graph, just click on the graph window.

Paste a pop-up measurement

107. Select Channel 1 in the DataWindow.

Select the channel you want to measure by clicking on it with thearrow tool or use the cursor to pick the correct channel number inthe boxes just left of each of the pop-up measurements.

108. Set a pop-up measurement boxfor CH 1 BPM.

109. Set a second pop-upmeasurement box for CH 1Time.

110. Use the I-beam tool to selecta region from the peak of oneR-wave to the peak of the nextR-wave.

111. Pull down the Edit menu, scrollto Journal and slide right toselect Paste Measurement.

112. Review the Journal entry. When you use the Paste Measurement function, all the pop-upmeasurements showing a value will be written to the Journal.

If you don’t want these measurements in the Journal, be sure toselect the measurement option “none.”

Paste Wave Data

113. Select the channel you wish tomeasure.

The Paste Wave Data function will write all the points that makeup the data in the selected wave area to the Journal.

Select the channel you wish to measure by clicking on it using thearrow tool or use the cursor to pick the correct channel in thechannel boxes just left of each of the pop-up measurements

114. Use the I-beam selection tool toselect the portion of the waveyou are interested in.

Remember — it’s very easy to put a lot of data into the Journalusing this command. If you select one second of a wave that wassampled at 200 Hz, 200 numbers will be pasted into the Journal.

115. Pull down the Edit menu, scrolldown to Journal then scrollright to Paste Wave Data.

Basic Tutorial 31

116. Review the Journal entry.

Saving the Journal When saving the Journal, the program creates a standard text file.The only file type option available is journal graph because theJournal and Graph files are linked.

117. Pull down the File menu andselect Save Changes.

To save the Journal, click on the File menu and select SaveChanges.

118. Click on Save Changes to usethe existing file name andlocation.

119. Click on the Journal windowand move to the File menu, andselect Save Changes.

120. Enter a new file name and/orlocation and click on Save.

Part F— Printing121. Read about the Print functions

to the right.

When you choose File > Printyou will be prompted to choosewhich items to print.

You control how the data is presented on the printed page bycontrolling how it is displayed on the screen prior to selecting Print.All of the options relating to printing the data files apply to thewaveforms as they are displayed in the data window.


122. Printing the Data Window The printer only works with the data shown in the data window, whichoften is not the complete data file. If you’ve zoomed, changed thescale, or hidden a channel, only the portion of data displayed in thedata window will be printed. This is actually very useful, becauseoftentimes you may only want to display a portion of the data.

¾ To print the entire data file

123. Click the mouse in any portionof the Data Window to make itthe active window.

The next two steps will setup the display window to show the entiredata file.

124. Pull down the Display menuand choose Autoscalehorizontal.

125. Pull down the Display menuand choose Autoscalewaveforms.

126. Pull down the File menu andchoose Print > Print graph .

The following window is just one example of the window you maysee:

Your actual print window will depend on the printer (and OperatingSystem) you are using. Refer to the Users Manual for your computerand/or printer if you need more details.

127. Click on Print .

128. Review the printed result.

Basic Tutorial 33

Part G — Saving Data129. Read about the Save functions

to the right.

The Biopac Student Lab software lets you save the datawaveform(s) file for later review. The program will save the datafile automatically, with a file name based on the user name or I.D.given at the start of each lesson.The first step in every lesson is for you to enter in your name. TheBiopac Student Lab software then creates a folder with the exactname you enter and places it in the Data Files folder of theBiopac Student Lab Program folder. When the Done button ispressed, the lesson will automatically save your data file to theData Files folder.

The software will save the data file with the name you enteredplus an extension that identifies the lesson number and the filetype (lesson data or journal). This extension is very importantbecause the software will key off this extension and open updifferent tools for the Review Saved Data Mode, depending onthe lesson.

NEVER CHANGE THESE FILE NAMES.

In addition to saving the data file, the software will automaticallycreate a journal file and place lesson information in it. It will savethis journal with the same name as the data file, but with a “J” inthe extension instead of an “L” as was used for the data file. Sincethe Review Saved Data mode needs to access both data andjournal files, ALWAYS KEEP THESE TWO FILESTOGETHER.

Other lesson data files that use the same name will be placed inthis same folder, but the software will never allow you to save adata file with the same name and lesson number. This informationis summarized in the following figure:

F ile e x ten sion s are ad ded au to m atica lly

Jo u rn a l F iles D ata F iles

Inside the “Data Files” folder

As a general note, because the Biopac Student Lab software issaving the data and journal files automatically, you must exercisecaution when moving things around into different folders.


It is recommended that you never place other files or folders inthe BIOPAC Student Lab folder, and never take files orfolders out of the BSL folder with the exception of removingdata and journal files from the Data Files folder.

SAVE OPTIONS

Once in the Review Saved Data mode, you may alter the datadisplay window, or enter more information into the journal. Whenyou make changes to the data window, you are only changinghow the data appears on the screen — you are not altering thedata that has been originally recorded. Saving the changes willnever delete any data..

130. Review the save options underthe File menu.

File menu for “Save” options

The Save changes option saves the file in the original location.

The Copy to Floppy or Network option creates a copy of theoriginal file in a new location.

131. Pull down the File menu andselect the Save changes option.

To save without quitting the software, use the save options in the“File” menu. These options are shown in the following figure.

132. Review the options and selectCancel when done.

After a Save selection has been made, the following windowshould appear.

PC

Macintosh dialog on next page Æ

Basic Tutorial 35

Macintosh

There are several options to review here:

¾ File location allows you to choose where the altered filewill be saved. Note that if you want to save to anywheredifferent from where the original files were located—forexample, saving the data to floppy disks for later review—you should use the Copy to Floppy or Network option.This is in order to allow the Review Saved Data Mode towork correctly.

¾ File name can not be altered from the original name.Again,this is to allow the Review Saved Data mode to workcorrectly.

¾ File type is locked on Graph, which is the original way itwas saved and is the waveform display you normally see onscreen. This mode copies the journal text as well.

¾ The “Eject” button will eject the active disk and allow youto insert a disk to copy to.

¾ The “Desktop” button will allow you to find files on thedesktop.

¾ The “New” button will create a new folder.

¾ The “Cancel” button terminates the Save function.

¾ The “Save” button instigates the Save function.

133. Pull down the file menu andselect Quit .

Alternatively, you can use the fast key shown. When you try toquit the software after altering the data file and/or journal file inany way, the following message will appear.

Quit prompt to save changes


134. If prompted, click Yes to saveall changes.

Alternatively, you can select the self-explanatory No or Canceloptions.

135. Eject the disk.

¾ Mac: use Special menu

¾ PC: manually eject disk

Alternatively, Mac users can drag the diskette icon to the Trashicon and it will eject.

136. Close the file you opened andclose the hard drive window.

137. Remove the diskette from yourhard drive.

138. Drag the diskette icon to thetrash and release the mousebutton.

139. Pull down the Start or Specialmenu and choose Shut down.

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