Thousands of Americans with untreatable inner-ear problems suffer from a severe lack of balance that can make something as simple as getting out of bed a nightmare. Now it seems the technology used to orient air-planes and satellites could help these people regain stability.
Scientists at MIT and Draper Laboratory are developing a tiny gyroscope and accelerometer that patients with balance disorders could wear as a headset. The instruments send a signal to vibrational devices the size of M&Ms sewn into the patient's clothes. When the person leans more than 10 degrees from the vertical, the devices on that side vibrate, producing a sensation that prompts the wearer to straighten up. Tests on patients with balance disorders are beginning at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Massachusetts General Hospital.
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This document is part of the “How-To Guide for Most Common Measurements” centralized resource portal. This tutorial provides a detailed guide for measurement and device considerations to take temperature measurements using thermocouples. Get an introduction to thermocouples, which are inexpensive sensing devices widely used with PC-based data acquisition systems. Also review some specific thermocouple examples and learn how thermocouples work and ways to integrate them into a data acquisition measurement system.
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