Master project skin conductance sensor for emotion monitoring system
At imec, Body Area Networks
Scope of the project
At Holst Centre in Eindhoven, a wireless emotion monitoring system is being developed. This system measures a number of physiological parameters in order to detect emotion, arousal or stress of a person. Nowadays, four signals are measured to calculate a real-time arousal level: ECG, respiration, skin conductance (at the fingers) and skin temperature. Apart from this, indications have been found that EMG of the shoulder muscles gives an indication of stress levels. In the end, the system could possibly be used for psychiatric patients or for example stress detection at work.
In order to make the system usable long-term and in real-world environments, it is currently being redesigned. Electronics for a new skin conductance sensor are being designed. In this new design, the skin conductance will be measured at the wrist. The electronics need to be packaged to form a skin conductance measurement device that is functional and easy to use. Also, the wearability and comfort of the sensor need to be evaluated. Is it comfortable to wear the sensor? Is it interfering with some (daily) activities? Which activities? How often? Etc.
After design, this new sensor needs to be tested. The sensor will need to be benchmarked against a commercially available reference system. Benchmarking of measuring skin conductance at the wrist against measuring at the fingers is also needed.
Furthermore, we have seen many varying results when measuring the skin conductance signals of different persons. Some persons show nice skin conductance responses, whereas others seem irresponsive. It needs to be investigated what causes these variations. Does everybody have a skin conductance response or is it just impossible to measure this response at some persons?
The assignment involves several steps:
- Mechanical design of a wrist skin conductance sensor taking into account functionality, wearability, comfort etc. of the sensor
- Testing of the new skin conductance sensor
- Benchmark against measuring with a commercial system
- Benchmark measuring at the fingers vs. measuring at the wrist
- Investigate more on skin conductance signals
- Does everybody have a skin conductance response?
- Why do we see better results for some persons than for others?
Requirements
This project shall be a Master’s Thesis project. It will require the presence of the student at the Holst Centre, Eindhoven, the Netherlands, for minimum 6 months. We are looking for student with a background in Industrial Design and knowledge and/or interest in biomedical applications. The student must have good English communication skills.
For all inquiries, please contact:
Ms Sandra Maas, Management Assistant Human Resources.
Telephone number: +31 (0)40 40 20 500.
Application form