Ambulatory Sternal Skin Conductance Recording Tool

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Advanced Medical Electronics Corporation proposes to develop a small, light-weight ambulatory sternal skin conductance measurement and recording tool for monitoring hot flashes in research studies. Packaging for the proposed tool is based on an electrocardiograph (ECG) system used for long-term cardiac monitoring. The application lessons and much of the literal technology of ambulatory ECG instruments are directly applicable to the proposed device. The proposed sternal skin conductance recording tool will be about the size of a digital wristwatch and will be designed to not interfere with daily life activities. It will record to solid state non-volatile (flash) memory for a minimum of 4 weeks between battery changes. The tool will have two short leads to sternum electrodes. The electronics module will be worn on the sternum and held in place using an adhesive patch. Collected data will be downloadable to a PC or other host computer via a simple USB interface cable. The proposed project will create an easy to use software application to review, archive, process, and experiment with the recorded data files. Laboratory and ambulatory evaluations will be completed on a prototype system by researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. The objective of the phase I project is to evaluate the feasibility of developing a low-cost, reliable, ambulatory sternal skin conductance measurement and recording tool. A prototype device and companion software package will be designed, built, and evaluated, and a phase II production plan will be completed.