Actiwave

The Actiwave range of miniature biomedical waveform recorders are designed to capture EMG, EEG and ECG signals in daily living. Using ultra miniature recorders which are available with either 1, 2 or 4 channels of recording capability, EMG, EEG and ECG waveforms can be recorded discreetly without the need for a large belt mounted recorder or lengthy wires. Each recorder can simply be taped or glued to the skin near to the position of the electrodes. The very small size and weight of these units makes them ideal for paediatric and veterinary use.

Key Features

• Small and light-weight for free-living conditions
• Non-invasive technology; can be discretely attached to the body
• Ideal for paediatric use
• Up to 36 hours of recording: fully recharged in 4 hours
• Non-volatile memory
• Standard placements for a 3 and 5 lead ECG: A 3 lead ECG using the 2 channel version and a 5 lead ECG using the 4 channel
• Outputs data in the EDF+ standard format for analysis in any third-party software package

Unit Types

4 Units are available in the Actiwave range

• 1 Channel EEG/ECG
• 2 Channel EEG/ECG
• 2 Channel EMG
• 4 Channel EEG/ECG
• Also available: The Actiwave Cardio

How does the Actiwave work?

The Actiwave monitors have 1mm diameter pins to which slip-on leads are attached. CamNtech supplies two styles of leads. One lead set has touch-proof contacts on one end and 4mm female snap contacts on the other end. The second lead set has custom 1mm female sockets on one end and spring loaded clip contacts on the other end. Either lead set will attach directly to any ECG, EEG, or EMG electrodes that have 4mm male snap contacts.

Physiological signals are passed from the electrodes through the leads to an on-board amplifier. A miniature, efficient microcontroller digitises the amplified physiological signal and stores the digitised waveform in non-volatile flash memory. At the end of the recording session, the leads are disconnected from the Actiwave recorder and the recorder is connected to a dock. The Actiwave software transfers data from the recorder to the PC via the dock and USB cable.

Actiwave data is stored on the PC in European Data Format (EDF+) files. There are several free EDF+ viewers available (e.g. Polyman, EDF Browser) for download from the internet that will allow you to view the Actiwave files. Most viewers will display multiple channels with correlated time stamps so the researcher can observe simultaneous events in the different physiological parameters.

Full details on software programmes that are compatible with the Actiwave range are available on the Actiwave Software Page.