Palo Alto just might be gaining an elite spot in the local colleges’ and universities’ Anatomy and Physiology Departments thanks to some new technology.

For many years now, student and professors have not been able to properly record data when conducting experiments dealing with the human body, but a substantial grant to purchase state-of-the-art laboratory equipment has changed that.

iWorx is a tool used by many top-name universities, research groups and hospitals around the world to perform EKGs (electrocardiograms), record blood pressure, and measure pulse as well as fluid values in the body. Not only will iWorx do the above, but it also measures oxygen consumption, visual reflexes, different emotions one might be feeling, and it will also perform EEGs (electroencephalograms), which will help study brain waves.

“This equipment will allow us to collect as well as analyze data in a way that we’ve not been able to at PAC,” said Linda E. Ibarra-Gonzales, assistant professor of Biology. “In addition, students will be exposed to the methods of data collection that they may encounter in the clinical setting.”

All these studies are done with the help of transducers and pressure cuffs, turning Palo Alto’s science classrooms into what some would say is a big science experiment.

Ibarra-Gonzales said that most of the credit can be given to Dr. Cecilia V. Gonzales, professor of Biology, for obtaining the funding to get iWorx into the college.

Ibarra-Gonzales said that the funding for the program came from a Title V grant, which will be used wisely considering each unit will cost a little more than $3,000. With this grant, the department will get their hands on as many units as it takes to provide for classes ranging from Biology to Anatomy. Some of the grant will also go to fund a study center on campus.

The professors who will be using this system have gone to workshops and conferences and will continue their training to introduce iWorx to Palo Alto’s students. Word is that the new system will be in use this coming Spring 2008 semester.

For more information on iWorx, contact Dr. Cecilia V. Gonzales at (210) 921-5304 or by e-mail at cgonzales1@mail.accd.edu