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  • Biomech Software

    Hi all,

    I'm forwarding this for Marc Lawrence, please direct any correspondance to
    m.lawrence@physics.org.

    ------

    Hi Ray

    I am hoping you may be able to help me a little. As part of my MSc in
    Medical Physics (basically a cover title for BioEngineering) at Aberdeen
    University, I was evaluating the biomechanical effects of a prototype back
    support. Unfortunately the electrogoniometer I was supposed to use was
    broken, and the only equipment available was a two sensor flock of birds
    system.

    At the time there was no money available to purchase biomechanical analysis
    software, so I wrote a data logger in C++ to work in Microsoft Windows. The
    purpose of this was to save the data from the flock of birds, direct to the
    hard disk, in a CSV file format (with timing information). Logging options
    (such as X,Y,Z or Rotation etc) could be chosen by the user.

    For the project the software worked well, and it was possible to use
    programmes like Excel (yuk) to analyse the results. At the end, during my
    Viva, the external examiner recommended that I release the software to the
    biomechanical community. I have checked with the Univeristy of Aberdeen, and
    my supervisors, and basically they have agreed to this. Thus I am happy to
    release the code, which would be on a no fee basis, and if people wanted to
    develop it further, I would be able to provide some limited support (Im no
    longer working with a FoB system in front of me), although the uni would
    retain the copyright.

    Because I access email from laptop at home, I am not allowing myself to
    register for various newsgroups etc, due to the shear volume of traffic
    often generated, and the cost of downloading through my mobile phone to the
    PC. Would you therefore be able to post a message to the group on my behalf,
    basically stating the above.

    I designed the system so that the code would be fairly modular (although
    currently it deals with only two sensors at the moment, reporting X,Y,Z and
    Xang, Yang, Zang), and use RS232 comms directly (ie no use of external
    drivers). It is not fool proof, and has many problems. But because of the
    way it works adding more sensors will just decrease the time it takes
    between each 'read' of the data values.

    I would have no problem with emailing the design specs which I included in
    the Thesis, which has an overview of the windows procedures and calls which
    allow the system to record in 'real time' (something which is actually
    impossibile in MS windows).

    As a bit of a background, before doing the MSc, I worked (and still do some)
    as a Machine Vision Consultant, using and designing Image Processing
    algorithms, and have around 5 years of C++ experience, as well as MS Windows
    NT programming experience - collected through Pilkington Glass (UK) and
    other companies (contractor). Currently I am training as a clinical
    scientist in the NHS (Why - programming is much more lucrative, but nowhere
    near as fun!) hence why I no longer have a FoB in front of me.

    If people wish to email me further (m.lawrence@physics.org), then I do no
    have a problem with responding, and eventually within the next few months,
    would like to have setup a web site. But that involves time, and I dont seem
    to have a great deal of that at the moment!.

    Once again, many thanks for any help you could provide

    Marc Lawrence



    Marc Lawrence
    m.lawrence@physics.org

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