By way of introduction

[Gary Goldberg <goldberg@vm.temple.edu>]

I just wanted to introduce myself to those on the list having joined this
past weekend.  I am a physician with specialization in Rehabilitation
Medicine who completed an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering
before going to medical school.  I take care of people with severe
traumatic brain injuries and am also trained as a clinical
neurophysiologist.  I have just been funded to set up a general purpose
clinical neurophysiology workstation for acquiring neurophysiologic data
from human subjects using a variety of different test paradigms and doing a
variety of different signal-processing operations with the data.  My main
applications for the system fall into two different areas:

1.  Nonlinear dynamical systems modelling of electromyographic (EMG)
signals--estimating fractal dimension of EMG interference patterns and
motor unit potential waveforms.

2.  Measurement of a coherent brain response frequency (usually around 40
Hz in normal folks) driven by auditory stimulation using a 'steady-state'
auditory evoked potential paradigm.

I am not going to go into any of the details of these applications here of
the list to avoid excessive use of bandwidth but would be willing to
respond to private inquiries.
I am going to build the system around a Dell 166MHz Pentium-based minitower
using LabView to program the data acquisition, display and
signal-processing analysis and an NI multipurpose DAQ card to do the data
digitization and paradigm control.  Data will be amplified through a bank
of physiological amplifiers and auditory stimuli will be generated by a
special-purpose auditory stimulator used for auditory evoked potential
testing.  Ideally, I want the amplifiers and the stimulator to be
computer-controlled through an IEEE-488 bus so the whole recording paradigm
can be set up and controlled automatically from the workstation, but may
not be able to afford to do this.  So far the only clinical-grade
programmable physiologic amplifiers I can find are manufactured by Nicolet
Biomedical as part of its Pathfinder Neurodiagnostic system.  They also
have a programmable auditory stimulator.  If anyone knows of any other
sources for this type of equipment, please let me know.  If anyone on the
list has any experience with setting up VIs of this nature using LabView, I
would appreciate hearing from them.  I'd hate to find out that I have
re-invented the wheel.
Thanks for listening to this rambling introduction.
Best,
GG

============================================================================
Gary Goldberg MD,   Associate Professor, Department of Physical Medicine
and Rehabilitation,
        Temple University School of Medicine
        Director,   Electrodiagnostic Center, MossRehab Hospital
        Attending Physiatrist,   Drucker Brain Injury Center, MossRehab Hospital
        Consultant,  MossRehab Stroke Center
        Member, Editorial Board, Topics in Stroke Rehabilitation
        Member, Editorial Board, Muscle and Nerve

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