Buma Dorindo G, Buitenweg Jan R, Veltink Peter H
Biomedical Signals and Systems Group, Institute for Biomedical Technology BMTI/Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands.
IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng. 2007 Sep;15(3):435-41. doi: 10.1109/TNSRE.2007.903942.
Electrotactile displays deliver information to the user by means of electrocutaneous stimulation. If such displays are used in prostheses, the functionality depends on long term stability of this information channel. The perceived sensation, however, decays within 15 min due to central adaptation if the stimulation is applied continuously and at constant strength. In this study, the effects of stimulus amplitude and intermittent stimulation on adaptation were investigated in ten healthy subjects. The perceived sensation was recorded during 15 min of constant stimulation using a visual analog scale (VAS). The sensation level with time thus measured were parameterized by the initial sensation level, the time constant of decay and the end sensation level after fitting of an exponential function through the VAS data. The time constant increased significantly when applying a high stimulation level (at 80% of the range between sensation and pain thresholds) if compared with lower levels of stimulation (20% and 50%) during continuous stimulation. Intermittent stimulation at this high stimulation level significantly increased end sensation level.
电触觉显示器通过电皮肤刺激向用户传递信息。如果此类显示器用于假肢，其功能取决于该信息通道的长期稳定性。然而，如果持续以恒定强度施加刺激，由于中枢适应，所感知的感觉会在15分钟内衰减。在本研究中，对10名健康受试者研究了刺激幅度和间歇性刺激对适应的影响。使用视觉模拟量表（VAS）在15分钟的恒定刺激期间记录所感知的感觉。通过对VAS数据拟合指数函数，将如此测量的随时间变化的感觉水平用初始感觉水平、衰减时间常数和最终感觉水平进行参数化。与连续刺激期间较低刺激水平（20%和50%）相比，施加高刺激水平（在感觉阈值和疼痛阈值之间范围的80%）时，时间常数显著增加。在此高刺激水平下的间歇性刺激显著提高了最终感觉水平。
