Accurate assessment of experienced pain is a well-known problem in the clinical practices. Therefore, a proper method for pain detection is highly desirable. Electrodermal activity (EDA) is known as a measure of the sympathetic nervous system activity, which changes during various mental stresses. As pain causes mental stress, EDA measures may reflect the felt pain. This study aims to evaluate changes in skin conductance responses (SCRs), skin potential responses (SPRs), and skin susceptance responses (SSRs) simultaneously as a result of sequences of electrical (painful) stimuli with different intensities. EDA responses as results of painful stimuli were recorded from 40 healthy volunteers. The stimuli with three different intensities were produced by using an electrical stimulator. EDA responses significantly changed (increased) with respect to the intensity of the stimuli. Both SCRs and SSRs showed linear relationship with the painful stimuli. It was found that the EDA responses, particularly SCRs (p < 0.001) and SSRs (p = 0.001) were linearly affected by the intensity of the painful stimuli. EDA responses, in particular SCRs, may be used as a useful indicator for assessment of experienced pain in clinical settings.

Electrodermal activity (EDA) usually relates to variations in the electrical properties of palmar or plantar skin sites. EDA responses, namely skin conductance responses (SCRs), skin potential responses (SPRs) and skin susceptance responses (SSRs) are shown to be sensitive indexes of sympathetic nervous system activation and are studied in many research projects. However, the association between EDA responses and the five basic human senses has not been investigated yet. Our study aimed to explore the relationship between the three EDA responses (SCRs, SSRs and SPRs) and the five basic human senses. These three EDA responses were measured simultaneously at the same skin site on each of the 38 volunteers. The tested five senses were sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell. The results showed that the different tested senses led to different degrees of EDA responses due to activation of the sympathetic nervous system and corresponding secretion of sweat. Although a controlled study on the degree of EDA as a function of the strength of each stimulus was not performed, we noted that the largest EDA responses were typically associated with the smell sense test. We conclude that EDA responses could be utilized as measures for examining the sensitivity of the human senses. Hence, EDA devices may have important roles in sensory systems for future clinical applications.

Background/Aim: Electrodermal activity (EDA) is a widely used measure in psychophysiological research, and its use in wearable devices has grown in recent times. It is recommended to have proper conditions for EDA measurement, and skin hydration is one factor that has a significant influence. It is, however, not known to what extent the ambient humidity influences the recording. This study explored the influence of relative humidity (RH) on EDA levels, and also the responses using a new technique for simultaneous recording of all measures of EDA: skin conductance (SC), skin susceptance (SS), and skin potential (SP) at the same skin site. Methods: A total of 10 healthy subjects were exposed to environments of low and high RH while EDA measures were recorded, including cognitive, visual and breathing stimuli for evoking electrodermal responses of different origin. EDA levels and responses were compared between the two humidity levels for all stimuli and all EDA measures. Results: It was found that EDA levels, in particular for SC and SS, were significantly increased during high humidity exposure, but that the change in EDA responses (SC, SS, and SP) was not statistically significant (p > 0.05, paired t test). Conclusion: This suggests that ambient humidity influences the recording of EDA levels and is important to consider when these parameters are used, but is not important in the recording or analysis of EDA responses.

Purpose: The research presented in this article aimed at evaluating patient doses including entrance surface dose (ESD) and effective dose (E) in government hospitals that lack the requirements of quality control standards. Materials and methods: Three major government hospitals with 409 patients in Duhok were involved in the study. The X-ray diagnostics included five routine radiographic examinations. ESD was determined indirectly by measuring the entrance surface air kerma with a solid state dosimeter. E was calculated from the tissue weighting factor and the equivalent dose. Results and conclusion: s: Significant variations between exposure factors recorded in this study and those recommended in the context of quality criteria and standards were shown. The results have also shown that about twenty percent of the patient doses (ESD and E) were equal or below the recommended values of the diagnostic reference levels (DRLs). For abdomen, pelvis and skull examinations, the ESD values were slightly above the diagnostic reference levels. For chest and cervical the ESD values were much higher than diagnostic reference levels. These values were more reasonable only in one hospital. High ESD values can be attributed to the slightly higher tube voltages and lower mAs values that were used. The high patient dose values suggest that any adequate change of the exposure parameters that aims at the reduction of dose must be done without compromising the image quality. This study recommends a quick action toward implementing a quality control program and employing special staff of medical physicists in the evaluated hospitals

Impact of obesity and gender differences on electrodermal activities