Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor K.G. Korotkov
Federal State Budgetary Institution "St. Petersburg Research Institute of Physical Culture (SPbRIPC )", St. Petersburg

Corresponding author: korotkov2000@gmail.com

Abstract

Presented a description of the principles of operations of a system for monitoring the psychophysiological condition of athletes on the basis of cloud technologies developed in SPbRIPC. The system is based on the method of gas-discharge visualization included in the list of FMBA devices for monitoring the psychophysiological condition of athletes. The software is implemented on the server, which provides an opportunity to work in any conditions, both in the training hall and in the field, automatic storage of the received information, access to the database only for authorized users and high security of the database. The developed system allows working with the database from any computer or mobile phone connected to the Internet. Experience of 5 years of operation of the system has shown that it has a high degree of reliability, speed, convenience for users, and for all this time there have been no cases of information leakage or loss.

The psychophysiological condition of athletes is measured in the morning and evening. This allows monitoring the circadian rhythm and taking into account the adaptation of the athlete's body to changes in the environmental conditions and training loads. The process of measuring and analyzing data is so simple that it can be done by the coach or by the athletes themselves directly during the training process. Athletes have different psychophysiological parameters, so the focus is on the dynamics of these parameters over time. Particularly important is the positive dynamics of the parameters during the preparation for competitions. The high degree of correlation between the values of gas-discharge visualization parameters and the success of competitive activity during performances was shown. In the process of working with the Russian Olympic and Paralympic teams the method has earned high appreciation from the coaches and athletes due to its non-invasive, simple, and informative nature. Application of the developed method in sports gives a convenient tool for athletes and coaches to analyze and correct the training process and competitive activity.

Keywords: psychophysiological condition, cloud technology, gas-discharge visualization

Introduction. One of the objectives of the "Strategy for the Development of the Information Society of the Russian Federation for 2017-2030" is the creation of Russian information and communication technologies to obtain new technological advantages, use and processing of information, access to it, obtaining knowledge, creating new markets and providing leadership in them [1]. Under these conditions, sport science and practice, aimed at improving the efficiency of the training process and ensuring the highest achievements, should also be transformed by adhering to modern "digital trends".

Monitoring the psychophysiological condition of athletes in the training process and during competitions is an important task for sports of the highest achievements. At the same time, athletes, as a rule, do not have time and desire to conduct long, complex tests. Therefore, the use of methods of rapid assessment of the psychophysiological state that an athlete or trainer can conduct independently is a modern necessity. The practice of work with Olympic and Paralympic teams shows that such tests must meet certain criteria:

1. Noninvasive.

2. Ease of use.

3. Easy interpretation of the results obtained.

4. Ability to be carried out in all conditions, both in the training hall and outdoors, in various weather conditions.

5. Automatic saving of the received information.

6. Restriction of access to stored information.

Small-size devices based on cloud technology, including those using a mobile phone, have become increasingly common recently. In the process of scientific and methodological support of the national teams they are used to assess and analyze the functional state of athletes, biomechanical analysis of the athlete's movement technique, psychological state, designing thematic schemes of wrestling, assessment of adaptive capacity, etc [2]. The greatest share of data in physical culture and sports is functional diagnostics. Practically all sportsmen use in their training activity the devices of Polar company that transmit to mobile devices or computer the information about the functional state of the sportsman in the state of rest and load.

This paper describes the technology developed in SPbRIPC.

Research objective. The gas-discharge visualization method imaging (GDV) is widely used in the world to study the psychophysiological state of a person in medicine and psychology. (An overview of the main publications for 10 years can be found in [3]). For many years researchers of the SPbRIPC under the auspices of the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation have been developing a method of applying the GDV method in sport. Based on the research results dozens of articles [4] and two monographs [5, 6] have been published. The Federal Research and Clinical Center for Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency has published "Methodological recommendations for the use of the method of Gas-Discharge Visualization in the non-invasive diagnosis of functional status, psychophysiological status and health status of athletes of national teams of the Russian Federation" under the editorship of the head of the FMBA Professor V.V. Uiba [7].

The basis of the GDV method is the computer registration of the glow of athlete's fingers in a high-intensity electromagnetic field. Generated current at the microAmp level and a shooting time of about 5 microseconds make this method completely non-invasive. Developed on the basis of many years of research, the method of analysis of athletes consists of collecting information from the two ring fingers of both hands with the help of the GDV device. The whole process takes about 10 seconds, which makes it possible to perform the analysis morning and evening. The measurement results are sent to a server, where the information is processed and the user receives the processed data almost instantly [8, 9]. For athletes, the obtained parameters are stress level and energy level. Numerous experiments have shown a high degree of correlation of these parameters with data from psychological analysis and other instrumental methods.

The server program has a network architecture built on a three-level principle, where services within the "Internet cloud" organized in three large categories: database storage, data processing, and communication with the user. Such architecture, in particular, provides a high degree of database security: hackers' intrusion is possible on the first level, unlikely on the second, and fundamentally impossible on the third. All data is copied daily on an external medium, which ensures its safety in the event of a system failure. The application server and the database server are physically on the same server running CentOS with the Apache and PHP5.X web server installed. Due to the fact that the calculation of parameters is computationally difficult enough, the modules implementing this task require maximum performance. On this basis, the modules are written in standard C++ language and are built into executable files. Positioning computational modules on a powerful server computer allows us to use a relatively small application on the user's device that is used to capture data and interact with the server.

The developed system allows authorized users to work with their database from any computer or mobile phone connected to the Internet. Experience of 5 years of operation of the system has shown that it has a high degree of reliability, speed, convenience for users, and for all this time there have been no cases of information leakage or loss.

Results. As noted, the psychophysiological condition of athletes is measured in the morning and evening. This allows monitoring the circadian rhythm and taking into account the adaptation of the athlete's body to the changes of the environmental conditions and training loads [6]. The process of measuring and analyzing data is so simple that it can be done by the trainer or by the athletes themselves during the training process. Athletes have different psychophysiological parameters, so the focus is on the dynamics of their parameters over time. Particularly important is the positive dynamics of the parameters during the preparation for competitions. The high degree of correlation between the values of GDV parameters and the success of competitive activity during the performances was shown [10].  In the process of work with the Russian Olympic and Paralympic teams the method has earned high appreciation from coaches and athletes due to its non-invasive, simple, and informative nature.

The latest generation of GDV devices is battery-operated and communicates with mobile phones via Bluetooth.

Discussion.  The modern trend of "home medicine" development is to create devices for individual use that collect certain physiological data and inform the user about the parameters beyond the physiological norm.  Systems of health status monitoring or physical activity indicators are gaining popularity every year. The latest generation of devices works over the Internet using a mobile phone, which allows you to save a database in the cloud and consult with a specialist if necessary.  The application of these ideas in sports provides a convenient tool for athletes and coaches to analyze and adjust the training process and competitive activities. The technology and method developed in SPbRIPC for application of the Internet-based method for analysis of sports activity has been tested for a number of years during the survey of sportsmen of the Russian Olympic and Paralympic teams and has shown high efficiency combined with ease of use and interpretation of data. The next stage is a wide implementation of this method in the practice of Russian sports.

Conclusions

The presented materials testify to the prospect of further wide introduction of the method of GDV in Russian sport. The transition to Internet technology is a logical stage in the development of modern society, and sports science and practice are working successfully in this direction.

References

1. Presidential Decree No. 203 of 9 May 2017 "On the Strategy for the Development of the Information Society in the Russian Federation for 2017 - 2030".
2. Available at: https://www.garant.ru/products/ipo/prime/doc/71570570/.
3.  Baryayev A.A., Vorobyov S.A. Scientific and methodical support of disabled athletes. P.F. Lesgaft National State University of Physical Culture, Sports and Health, St. Petersburg, 2017. 80 p.
4. Korotkov K. Review of EPI papers on medicine and psychophysiology published in 2008-2018. Int J Complement Alt Med. 2018. 11(5).  pp. 311‒315.DOI: 10.15406/ijcam.2018.11.00417.
5. Korotkov K.G., Korotkova A.K.  Gas-discharge Visualization method for Bioelectrography in Sport. Theory and practice of physical culture. 2018. No. 11. pp. 65-67.
6. Korotkov K.G., Korotkova A.K. Innovative technologies in sports: investigation of a psychophysiological condition of the sportsmen by a method of the gas-discharge visualization. Moscow. Sovetskiy Sport publ.. 2008. 278 p.
7. Korotkov K.G., Vorob'ev S.A., Korotkova A.K. Psychophysiological bases of the sports activity analysis by a method of the gas-discharge visualization (GPV). Moscow: Sport, 2018. 144 p.
8. Barsukova M.V., Gnetneva E.S., Klyuchnikov S.O., Polyakov S.D., Zholinsky A.V., Polyayev B.A. Methodical recommendations on the use of gas-discharge imaging method in non-invasive diagnostics of functional state, psychophysiological status and health condition of the sportsmen of Russian Federation national teams. Methodical recommendations. Prof. V.V. Uiba (ed.)(in Russian). Moscow: Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, 2018. 23 p.
9. Korotkov K.G., Korotkova A.K. Internet support system for the methods of the psychological state control in the system of sports training of the Paralympic athletes (in Russian). Adaptive physical culture. 2017. No. 3 (71).  pp. 34-36.
10. Korotkov K.G., Semenov K.P., Grachev A.A. Bio-Well - hardware-software complex for determination of the human psychophysiological state by the gas-discharge visualization method, working on the basis of the cloud Internet technologies. Biotechosphere. 2016 no. 6 (42),  pp. 31-34.
11. Banayan A.A., Grachev A.A., Korotkov K.G., Korotkova A.K. Prediction of competitive readiness of Paralympic athletes on the basis of assessment of circadian rhythm at sporting events by the method of GDV. Adaptive physical culture. 2016. no. 2. (66) pp. 2-5.