Peter Gamma (Physiologist & Director) Meditation Research Institute Switzerland (MRIS)

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Issues with Newgen Medical Treamills and how they could be resolved (for walking meditation)

Posted bypg@petergamma.org 2 Comments on Issues with Newgen Medical Treamills and how they could be resolved (for walking meditation)

Last Updated on January 28, 2024 by pg@petergamma.org

We currently did not find an affordable treadmill for the home lab of really serious scientists and other people who want to have accurate data.

  • Newgen Medical treamills can be bought used in Switzerland for around 200 USD. We use it for walking meditation and it works for this purpose, but we suppose there are better solutions.
  • We have an issue with speed spensors. None of the sensors we tested fit’s for our needs and that is tracking walking mediation.
  • We tested a treadtracker speed sensor, a Suntoo ANT+ foot pod and a Garmin Venu 2 with wrist based accelerometer.
  • A major issue is that foot pods and wrist based sensors require at least a speed of about 4 km/h selected with the treadmill. This is fast for walking meditation.
  • The other issues we had we have previously listed previously in our journal.

https://petergamma.org/category/treadmill-calibration/

  • We now found that if we set the Newgen Medical computer to 4 km/m, and do not walk on it, and use at the same time a Treadtracker treadmill speed sensor, both show a speed of 4 km/h when we start the treadmill.
  • But as soon as we start walking on the treadmill, the speed indicated by the Treadtracker speed sensor on the a training tracker app drops down to around 3.3 km /h, and the board computer still indicates 4 km/h.
  • The board computer of the Newgen medical treadmill seems to set the speed, but does not seem to have any speed sensors.
  • In the current state, the Newgen Medical treadmill can be used for walking meditation at around 4 km/h. For slower speeds foot pod and wrist bases sensor fail.
  • For physiologists like us this is not very satisfying.
  • Treadmills have the potential to be a very accurate tool, but currently is not.
  • The Newgen medical treadmill is suitable to do some exeriments.
  • We previously suggested to use a much more robust curved treadmill, which are currently available on the market starting from around 2 000 USD. Treadmill which are weaker are usually not used by scientists.
  • But the weakest point seems to be the treadmill motor control and the motor.
  • Also if we listen to the sound of the Newgen treadmill at 4 km/h, it sounds irregular when we make steps.

Adding a stronger motor, a Raspberry Pi speed sensor and controlling the treadmill by a computer would make this treadmill much better. And this would be a first step before buying a curved treadmill, where we eventually can add a strong treadmill motor as well.