Lab Facilities
To examine the development, maintenance, and deficits associated with skilled movement, we utilize a number of specialized technologies and experimental paradigms. Our lab equipment includes:
Force transducers
Range of 6-axis force sensors from ATI Industrial Automation and JR3 Industries
Motion tracking
Ascension TrakSTAR system
Eye tracking
SMI Eyetracking Goggles and analysis software (BeGaze)
EMG
Biopac wireless EMG system and analysis software (Acqknowledge)
Video recording
Microsoft KINECT 3-D motion capture and custom software (C++/ Matlab)
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
Siemens 3T Skyra wide-bore
fMRI Data Analysis Computers
Three HP z800 Workstations (8 2.4Ghz Cores, 12GB Ram, NVIDIA Quadro 4000 GPU) Analysis Software includes: BrainVoyagerQX, AFNI, FreeSurfer
Data Acquisition
National Instruments PXI-6602 Running Labview 2011
NI-6225 DAQ (80 AI, 24 DIO, 2 AO), NI-6704 (A0), NI-8430 Serial Interface (8 Ports)
NI-BNC2121 Digital Counter
Three-Dimensional Object Printing
A BfB Touch Dual Head 3-D printer is housed within the lab for stimulus creation. Objects are drafted in 3-D CAD software, and then converted using AXON 2 software for use with the printer.
EEG
A Biopac 9-Channel (plus 1 EOG for eyemovement artefact removal) EEG system is housed within the lab for studies examining the neurological underpinnings of skilled movement that do not lend themselves to an fMRI environment. A combination of vendor software (AcqKnowledge), custom matlab code, and the open source software programs eeglab and erplab are used for data analysis.
Robotic Interface
A Phantom 1.5 Premium (SensAble Technologies, Inc) haptic-enabled end-effector robot is available for studies examining virtual object manipulation, assessing deficits following stroke, and stroke rehabilitation utilizing force-feedback.
Vision Occulusion
A pair of Plato LCD shutterglasses allow for the occulusion of each eye independentlly. These are used to prevent participants from obtaining visual cues during certain experimental paradigms.
General Computing
Various HP Desktop and Laptop machines within the lab are dedicated for student use.