Development of Motion-Mediated Tactile Function Assessment Instrument---Mechanical Design and Proof of Concept

Project: National Science and Technology CouncilNational Science and Technology Council Academic Grants

Project Details

Abstract

A fundamental goal in neuroscience is to translate the understanding in physiology to clinical application. Indeed, even though the investigation of neural coding for spatial-temporal properties of tactile stimulus presented on the skin has advanced dramatically in the last decade, the assessment method for somatosensory capability in patients with neurological disorders remains almost the same. It is then of upmost importance to translate the knowledge of somatosensory research into our clinical practice. Indeed, K Johnson et al. in their pioneering work in 1981 first proposed the use of grating domes (dubbed as JVP dome) to replace the use of two-point discrimination by showing that the discrimination ability of the grating orientation for JVP dome showed a much superior reliability and validity in the assessment of the tactile spatial acuity in patients with peripheral nerve lesions. Even though JVP dome has then been applied in a variety of clinical somatosensory researches, its clinical use is still limited for the following reasons: The JVP dome assessment is performed manually so that it is manpower intensive; the application of JVP dome needs manual control of the indentation depth, a requirement that is difficult to apply; The commercialized JVP dome set has a floor effect and thus could not cover the discrimination threshold range suitable for patients with severe neuropathy. In the present study, we propose a novel tactile capability assessment instrument using a pioneering robotic tactile stimulator we are developing. Specifically, the tactile stimulator presents tactile motion in one of the two directions and the subject reports the perceived direction of motion in a two-alternative forced choice design. The stimulator consists of three independently controlled micro-motors, providing three degrees of freedoms including grating ball orientation, direction and the depth of vertical indentation on the skin. By varying the depth of skin indentation, we could manipulate the difficulty of the direction discrimination task so that the examination can cover a wide spectrum of patient severity. The specific aims of this one-year project will develop a “prototype stimulator” and will perform “proof of concept” in healthy subjects and patients with sensory loss. The long-term goal following this one-year project will be the realization of clinical feasible end-product that will fulfill the need of clinical use. Compared to JVP dome, the present instrument has advantages as it can (1) perform tactile evaluation automatically, (2) present stimulus with precise indentation depth, (3) cover a wider range of patient severities and (4) fathom the capability of somatosensory system in the motion perception domain.

Project IDs

Project ID:PC10207-0426
External Project ID:NSC102-2314-B182-012
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date01/08/1331/07/14

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