Patience and Physiology

Suma Modukuri -

Welcome back to my blog everyone! 

This week at my onsite internship was filled with excitement. We started to work with the BIOPAC system, which measures physiological responses when reacting to external stimuli. Although I had already familiarized myself with the system with training videos, this was my first time actually seeing it be used in person! Essentially, you connect different wires to different areas of the body and measure the signals from the electrodes and transducers. The wires connect to the fingers, the wrist, and the area above the eyebrow in order to best measure changes in pulse and physical expressions. Before this experience, I really only thought of surveys as a way of measuring participant data. Although surveys are effective, participants can feel pressured to put down a certain answer in hopes of it being “correct”. Being able to measure physiological responses more objectively helps limit the biases that can come from surveys and draw more accurate conclusions. 

Although working with the BIOPAC system has been super interesting, I was also introduced to the less glamorous parts of research- paperwork. The project that my on-site advisor is working on is still awaiting IRB approval, which is what allows the project to begin in the first place. The IRB’s guidelines are put in place to protect patient’s rights and safety during research, but actually getting their approval for a project takes a lot of waiting, and can even result in large-scale changes to a research project. 

As for my research project, I’m hoping to finish a rough draft of my final paper soon! See you next week!

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Comments:

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    Brittany DeFoe
    Wow! This is super interesting. As I was reading your first paragraph, I literally noticed my eyebrow moving in reaction. So, it sounds like a really great way to get more objective data...though a bit more intrusive and personal than answering a survey!
    March 25, 2025 at 9:45 am - Reply
    faiza_s
    Hi Suma! Sounds like an exciting (and a bit complicated) week with the BIOPAC system! I’m curious—what kind of physiological responses are you most interested in measuring with it?
    March 25, 2025 at 11:32 am - Reply
    jahnvi_s
    Hi Suma! This sounds like such a cool experience! I was wondering about how accurate the BIOPAC system is for measuring physiological responses?
    March 26, 2025 at 1:28 pm - Reply
    suma_k
    Hi Mrs. Defoe! A big part of conducting experiments with BIOPAC is making sure participants are comfortable. This is usually done by walking through the experiment beforehand and how the technology works as well as going through the process step-by-step while attaching the wires to minimize any potential discomfort.
    March 28, 2025 at 2:31 am - Reply
    suma_k
    Hi Faiza! BIOPAC is mostly used to measure heart rate and EEG (aka neuron activity), which helps study different emotional states and levels of arousal.
    March 28, 2025 at 2:33 am - Reply
    suma_k
    Hi Jahnvi! Although BIOPAC is effective at measuring physiological responses, one of the places that can lead to inaccuracies is with setting it up. It is a pretty finicky system, so doing something like using too much signal gel or not having the wires in a certain orientation can effect accuracy and how effective the system is at measuring signals.
    March 28, 2025 at 2:38 am - Reply

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