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USE OF BIOPAC SYSTEM FOR DATA ACQUISITION AND ANALYSIS

Following careful consideration, we purchased the PowerLab system instead of the Biopac system for my Physiology lab. It turned out to be a wise decision since PowerLab proved to be a much more sophisticated and versatile system. I, with the help of my teaching assistant, successfully replaced the MacLab system with this second generation data acquisition/analysis system. My Introductory Physiology class used it to do seven different experiments including a two week lab project on "Exercise Physiology", which actually turned out to be their favorite experiment. We did, however, spend a lot of time and energy to test the whole system as well as various transducers used in different experiments both last Summer and during the first eight weeks of the Fall semester. Report We have successfully replaced the MacLab system, a first generation data acquisition/analysis system, with a second generation PowerLab system using the funding from Sherman/Fairchild. Last Summer we compared the Biopac System with the PowerLab system very carefully before the final decision. We visited Professor Robert Peabody's Lab at Stonehill College to look at their Biopac system. After a closer examination, we decided that PowerLab is far superior than the Biopac system. We even convinced Professor Peabody to purchase PowerLab instead of additional Biopacs after he came to Wheaton to participate in a demonstration done by the salesman from AD Instruments, Inc. In addition to the flexibility and versatility of the PowerLab, we are also able to use most of the existing transducers we already have. Furthermore, we were able to trade in the old MacLabs for some new transducers. As a result, we now have an extremely versatile data acquisition/analysis system which can be used in Introductory Physiology, Advanced Physiology, Cellular Physiology as well as research projects. However, to accomplish this goal, I and my teaching assistant spend a lot of time last summer and every week during the first eight weeks of the Fall semester to test different transducers for seven different lab exercises. We faced a variety of problems associated with each of them, but were able to solve all the problems with the help from AD Instruments' service people. The U.P.S. strike delayed the delivery of the equipment; fortunately, we received them just in time for the first lab. As part of "Step Two" of our "Staircase Plan" for Math and Science, I also developed a two week lab project for the students to study "Exercise Physiology" (see Appendix 1). The lab project turned out to be a great success. In the course evaluation, over half of the class rated it as their favorite experiment. One of the reasons for the success is that the PowerLab system worked out very well. We even obtained some publicity for Wheaton! Since AD Instruments, Inc. is located in Milford, we had a lot of communications with the president of the company. When he started to work on a new mailer for the PowerLab system, he used three of my students in the photographs. More importantly, there is a note in the mailer which states" Special thanks to Dr Edmund Tong and his students at Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts." (See Appendix 2)

Last updated on 12/1/00;
Send questions about this page to: Ed Tong
or contact Wheaton College.