The Full Frame

Today marks the launch of my public sister site to this page, ResearchOrders.com. My goal with creating this page was to give people in the research field a place to network and ask questions without fear of their information being used for information mining from a site like facebook.com.

I have noticed the lack of sites for research networking on the internet. This really puzzles me as Research is a strongly collaborative endeavor and, many times, hinges on your social alliances.

Most of my personal content will continue to be posted here and it will be either linked to or copy-pasted into my forum.

Please pass this information on to anyone interested you may know.

http://www.researchorders.com

Many of you reading this article probably encountered this product the same way that we initially did, in a journal article under the methods section. This article is intended to give you an idea of product from a feasibility standpoint from an experienced computer technician and researcher.

Disclosure statement: I am not affiliated with Actigraph in any way and have received no compensation for this review.

Actigraph GT3X

MSRP $335

The Actigraph GT3X is a tri-axial accelerometer whose claim to fame lies in its very accurate movement filter whose primary purpose to differentiate actual steps and movement from any other background noise movement that may occur while wearing the device. It is capable of measuring very small amounts of movement such as those generated by the elderly and other home-bound subjects. This device’s data is widely accepted in research circles throughout the scientific community.

To get up and running with a basic kit will run you  $706 ($349 software + $7 USB cable+ $335 GT3X+ $15 Elastic Band).

Closeup of the Device

The following are my impressions of the device and its ActiLife software.

Pros:

1. Incredibly accurate
2. Very long battery life
3. Lightweight
4. Noiseless
   
5. Intuitive and easy to use software
6. Lexan case (though I would like to see aluminum or magnesium)
   
7. Graphical display of steps and movement along the various axes.
8. Direct import of raw movement data into excel tables
9. Quick shipping, friendly & prompt staff

Cons:

1. Not waterproof
2. Slow download speed (3-7 minutes)
3. Poorly designed belt mounting loops
4. Expensive proprietary accessories (elastic belts, USB cables, cases)
5. Software NOT included with purchase of device
6. USB cables not included with purchase of device

The Actigraph GT3X is a transparent red block of plastic (judging by density, hardness, and malleability the material feels very similar to Lexan) and electronics roughly the size of a Zippo lighter. It has a weather seal along its main joint and a USB port with a rubber plug that in general won’t immediately fit and create a snug seal. Looking at the workmanship I was immediately struck by the manufacturer’s choice of form over function. Sleek lines, rounded edges, and a carefully recessed rubber plug for the USB port do little for me whose main concern would be device’s robustness.

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I have been doing clinical research for two years now and yet it feels like an eternity. I have learned so much during this time that I have become very confident in not only my level of clinical understanding but also my understanding of medication function and interaction and have gained more than my fair share of the overall savvy required to succeed at this job…

It all started on October 1st, 2007 when I began my first day of work at the hospital. I was shown into my office, a corner office without a window roughly 15ft x 20ft. And nothing,… wait I shouldn’t go that far… it had a computer at least, a modern dell with a 19″ LCD screen. This was placed on a card table which was sitting in the corner of the room and next to that a stack of boxes which I was told contained some office supplies and binders for patients.

From there I was on my own. I was armed with the names of two people with jobs roughly similar to mine and some great advice from one of my future mentors (who also would happen to be my boss).

Upon calling my associates I was given a brief rundown of how difficult, random, tedious and time consuming this position was. I was given some sample binders and folders to show me the data collected. From that point on I was on my own.

At this point it began to sink in. I was going to be experimenting on human beings. The same type of things I was doing in the lab I would now be doing with actual people. You can’t exactly restart a human experiment if something goes wrong, you can’t take a coffee break and re-run your samples, and you must certainly write everything down!!!

Step 1. Review my sample documents.

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Today I had a busy day. I’ve been booked every weekend for the past two months straight and last night I got another offer for Sunday…

Jennifer and her Escorts here were posing during a midday stroll through downtown Omaha.

Shoot at Heartland of America Park