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BSX
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=Independent Reviews=
BSX pointed me to three individuals who have reviewed their device; Tony Vienneau (Slowtwitch.com), Matt Fisher (triathletesdiary.com), and Ray Maker (dcrainmaker.com).
* Tony's review on slowtwitch.com mentioned that he used the BSX to perform multiple tests (30-40). Tony noted that the muscle oxygenation value displayed on the BSX varied with fatigue, which was different to my results where the value seemed reasonably static regardless of activity level. Tony mentioned that he had a Blood Lactate test performed that corresponded with the BSX results, but gave no further details. Tony mentioned to me that he generally saw changes in displayed SmO2 that corresponded to intensity. He also found that he got an error if he ran at an easy pace with the BSX. Tony's review is available at [http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Electronics/BSX_Insight_5257.html http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/Electronics/BSX_Insight_5257.html] and was published August 2015.
* Matt completed a single test with the BSX at their facilities. Matt's review shows a plot from the BSX software that is not normally available to the end user, showing time against a relative concentration. This is intriguing, and I have similar plot from BSX for a couple of my tests. However, BSX wouldn't tell me what the substance was that they were plotting as "relative concentration". If you look at the chart on Matt's site, you'll see what is probably the raw data in red, showing a huge amount of noise, an orange line that appears to be a smoothed version, then a simple green line that is further smoothed. This is all very intriguing, but equally unclear. As an aside, Matt includes a blood lactate plot he had performed a few years back, which would not have a Lactate Threshold based on the criteria BSX uses (1+1 mmol/l rise). That's slightly ironic, but it highlights the problem with their blood testing methodology. You can read Matt's review at [http://triathletesdiary.com/blog-2/entry/general-blog-posts/playing-with-the-worlds-first-wearable-lactate-threshold-testing-device-from-bsx-athletics.html http://triathletesdiary.com/blog-2/entry/general-blog-posts/playing-with-the-worlds-first-wearable-lactate-threshold-testing-device-from-bsx-athletics.html] and was published August 2015.
* Ray also completed a single test, and his write up includes the chart of blood lactate levels as well as some different charts from the BSX software. For the test Ray estimated his 10K pace as 6:05 min/mile pace, and the BSX indicated a Lactate Threshold pace of 6:03 min/mile, with the BSX blood test showing 5:42 min/mile. Ray's blog also includes a vaguely similar plot to the one Matt includes, showing noisy data in red. This chart is simply marked "estimated" on the Y axis and has a different scale with no units. This chart looks like a visual estimation of the breakpoint in the muscle oxygenation, something that other researchers have used. The review also includes some charts of probability, which is intriguing, but hard to interpret. You can read Ray's write up at [http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/09/bloodless-lactate-threshold.html http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/09/bloodless-lactate-threshold.html]
* Another set of reviews that BSX did not mention were performed by Todos Vamos Gabriel Hernando of zitasport.com. Todos Gabriel has written five articles about his experiences with BSX, mostly covering the difficulty in getting it to work. Todos Gabriel found that the BSX gave a Lactate Threshold that compared well with his Functional Power Test from cycling. You can read Todos' Gabriel reviews at [http://blog.zitasport.com/category/crowdfunding/bsx-insight/ http://blog.zitasport.com/category/crowdfunding/bsx-insight/] (this is in Spanish, but Google can translate it reasonably well.)
