Arctic expedition support

Hidalgo, a Cambridge-based technology company, is sponsoring the Catlin Arctic Survey and is supporting the expedition team by providing Equivital body-worn physiological monitoring systems.

The Catlin Arctic Survey is a polar expedition organised by an international collaboration between polar explorers and scientific bodies, including the WWF.

The key aim of the survey is to help scientists gain a better understanding of floating sea ice in the Arctic Ocean. The survey will help scientists in refining their predictions of when the ice will cease to be a year-round feature of the Arctic Ocean.

The survey’s scientific findings will be taken to the national negotiating teams working to replace the Kyoto Protocol agreement at the UN Climate Change Conference of Parties in Copenhagen in December 2009.

The team members will be wearing Hidalgo’s Equivital physiological monitoring system throughout the polar expedition. The Equivital units will continuously measure and record the physiological condition of the explorers while on the ice and will provide an indication of their general wellbeing, as well as detailed physiological data.

Incorporating sensors within a belt worn around the chest, Equivital measures ECG, heart rate, respiration rate and effort, skin temperature and body orientation and physical impact.

Team members will also ingest a ‘core pill’ containing a miniature temperature sensor that communicates core body temperature readings to the Equivital unit.

The unit will continuously record and transmit the wearer’s physiological data, which will be sent to the survey vessel’s onboard central data unit before being transmitted back to the UK headquarters.

In particular, core body temperatures will be recorded and sent back to track team members’ physical and mental responses when exposed to extended periods in extremely low temperatures.