Vargas Luis, Huang He Helen, Zhu Yong, Hu Xiaogang
Department of Biomedical Engineering at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and NC State University.
Department of Mechanical Engineering at NC State University.
Int IEEE EMBS Conf Neural Eng. 2021 May;2021:1087-1090. doi: 10.1109/ner49283.2021.9441255. Epub 2021 Jun 2.
Proprioception provides information regarding the state of an individual's limb in terms of static position and kinesthesia (dynamic movement). When such feedback is lost or impaired, the performance of dexterous control of our biological limbs or assistive devices tends to deteriorate. In this study, we determined if external vibratory stimulation patterns could allow for the perception of a finger's static position and kinesthesia. Using four tactors and two stimulus levels, eight vibratory settings corresponded to eight discrete finger positions. The transition patterns between these eight settings corresponded to kinesthesia. Three experimental blocks assessed the perception of a finger's static position, speed, and movement (amplitude and direction). Our results demonstrated that both position and kinesthesia could be recognized with over 93% accuracy. The outcomes suggest that vibratory stimulus can inform subjects of static and dynamic aspects of finger proprioception. This sensory stimulation approach can be implemented to improve outcomes in clinical populations with sensory deficits, and to enhance user experience when users interact with assistive devices.
本体感觉提供有关个体肢体静态位置和动觉（动态运动）状态的信息。当这种反馈丧失或受损时，我们对生物肢体或辅助设备进行灵巧控制的能力往往会下降。在本研究中，我们确定外部振动刺激模式是否能够实现对手指静态位置和动觉的感知。使用四个触觉器和两种刺激水平，八种振动设置对应于八个离散的手指位置。这八种设置之间的转换模式对应于动觉。三个实验模块评估了对手指静态位置、速度和运动（幅度和方向）的感知。我们的结果表明，位置和动觉的识别准确率均超过93%。这些结果表明，振动刺激可以让受试者了解手指本体感觉的静态和动态方面。这种感觉刺激方法可用于改善有感觉缺陷的临床人群的治疗效果，并在用户与辅助设备交互时提升用户体验。
