Development of a device allowing the measurements of cardiac frequency and cerebral functions of athletes

At the IAI (Institute of Industrial Automation) a prototype system has been developed to allow the study of event-related potentials during archery activities. The event-related potential is evoked by an external event, in this case targets projected through beamer which require different reactions from the athlete. 

Both biological and mechanical signals from the archer's head and the bow are wirelessly sent to a computer for processing. The goal is to measure the elapsed time for the cognitive reaction with a quantitative measure of the blood perfusion. This can tell the cognitive state of the athlete, how she or he will react and what is his or her cerebral training. 

The Biomedical Engineering Group studied cybernetics which allow to define how the person handle an external machine as a bow. The project also wanted to detect the potential of individuals and observe the differences of reactions between a novice and an athlete. It also allows to estimate how the athlete feels with the machine through quantitative measures of human cognitive performances. This project can be used for training as well as selection. The laboratory built the device which allowed to do the measurements of the cardiac frequency and cerebral functions.