TOUCH/TOUCH vs ACTIVE/REF/GND Protocols

Celeris protocols may be made as either Touch/Touch or Active/Reference/Ground. Touch/Touch protocols stimulate each eye independently, using the fellow-unstimulated eye as a reference. Active/Reference/Ground protocols stimulate both eyes at the same time and use a common reference electrode.

The advantage of a Touch/Touch protocol is the simplicity of its setup, however, its drawback is the trans-cranial illumination effect that occurs at intensities greater than 10 cd.s/m2. For this reason, Active/Reference/Ground is better suited for high intensity stimuli.

Pre-existing ColorDome protocols will already be set up using the Active/Ref/Gnd paradigm.

Converting the Protocol

Make a Copy First!

Protocols that have data associated with them will lock essential parameters. The first step will be to make a copy of the ColorDome protocol. From the protocol selection page, click on the protocol you wish to convert and press Copy. 

Name the New Protocol

From the protocol details page, update the name of the protocol to reflect the change. You may wish to append "V2" or "Rev B" or even the date to the name of the protocol to help distinguish it from its parent protocol. 

Export the Existing Protocol Parameters

Changing the stimulus generator will reset the stimulus parameters. Exporting a copy of the protocol parameters will give us a handy index to refer back to. From this protocol details page, click the Export button at bottom left. Save the file as either type .TXT or .CSV (if you have Excel installed on this machine). Select Desktop as save destination.  Then click the Save button.  We will refer to this file later when we set the stimulus parameters in new protocol.

Convert to a Celeris Protocol

At the top of the protocol details page, select "Celeris Stimulator" as the Stimulator Generator

*Note, if you do not see "Celeris Stimulator" as an option, enable Celeris module in Configure System

Update Protocol Parameters

Channel Parameters

TOUCH/TOUCH Protocols

Configure the Channels Tab for a Touch/Touch Protocol

In order to fully convert a ColorDome protocol into a Celeris Touch/Touch protocol, right and left eyes must both be directed into the Channel 1 input. Since channel is a combination of positive (+) and negative (-), the input plugged into the negative will need to be inverted in order for the graph to appear right-side-up.

1. Set all channels to Amplifier input 1

2. Invert input polarity for even channels; these are the inputs that will be plugged into negative (-) ports

*Note, do this for each Step of the protocol

ALTERNATIVELY

Configure the Channels Tab for an Active/Reference/Ground Protocol

The setup for Active/Reference/Ground electrode configuration mimics a ColorDome protocol setup. In this setup, Channel 1 is Amplifier input 1 (+) while Channel 2 is Amplifier input 2 (+). Both 1 and 2 (-) are shared via a common reference jumper plug which applies tongue/cheek/snout needle to both channels.

1. Set Channel 1 Amplifier input to 1

2. Set Channel 2 to Amplifier input 2

Stimulus Parameters

1. Open .txt file from desktop.  Scroll to view Pulse intensity and Pulse color line.  Read from left to right, values are listed starting with step 1, then step 2, etc. If you have Excel on this machine, opening this file in Excel can help with readability. 

2. Click any of the white boxes in stimulus tab to open the stimulus parameter window.  Step by step, reference the txt file and set the desired values for Pulse intensity, Pulse Color, Background intensity, and Background color. (P) or (S) after the values indicated photopic or scotopic units.  There is an option to toggle units in stimulator parameter window.  Note if desired Background intensity is 0, we don't need to consider what the background color is set to because it won't be used.

FOR TOUCH/TOUCH PROTOCOLS:

Change Output Stimulator at the upper right from Stimulator 1 (R) --> Both Stimulators

FOR ACTIVE/REF/GND PROTOCOLS:

Change Output stimulator ar the upper right from Stimulator 1 (R) --> Both Stimulators and enable the Lock checkbox next to it. This will cause it to flash both stimulators simultaneously.

Click OK at top right of pop up window when values are set, then select the next step from list on the left. Repeat process to enter stimulus values for all steps.

Choose how the Protocol will Run - for Touch/Touch only

ColorDome protocols produce a single flash that stimulates both eyes simultaneously, while Celeris protocols utilizing the Touch/Touch method stimulate one eye at a time. Thus Diagnosys recommends the following settings:

Single Flash Stimulus:

"Alternate Eyes Between Sweeps" = acquires a sweep from right eye, then left, then right again, until completion of the designated number of "Sweeps per Result"

Flicker Stimulus:

"Alternate Eyes Between Results" = completes a full stimulation cycle before moving to opposite eye

Pattern Stimulus:

"Alternate Sweep Between Results" = records multiple results simultaneously

*When making these changes, be sure to do so for each step of the protocol. You may use the Copy to Step or Node options to speed up the process

Copy Step: will overwrite every step with the existing step's parameters. Use with care!!

Copy Node: will copy the existing parameter or selected set of parameters from the existing step (or channel/marker) to all other steps (or channels/markers).

Further Reference:

The Touch/Touch technique requires the need to alternate stimulation between right and left eyes.

Alternation can be done between Sweeps or Results.

Sweeps = individual rounds of data acquisition, multiple sweeps are averaged to create results

Results = average of sweeps, can be thought of as final graphs and data points

"Sweeps per Result" determines how many rounds of data acquisition are averaged together to create a single result; this parameter is found under the Acquisition Tab.

Should you encounter any difficulty of have further questions, please contact support@diagnosysllc.com