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Tactile-STAR: A Novel Tactile STimulator And Recorder System for Evaluating and Improving Tactile Perception
Frontiers in Neurorobotics
  • Giulia Ballardini, University of Genoa
  • Giorgio Carlini, University of Genoa
  • Robert A. Scheidt, Marquette University
  • Ilana Nisky, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
  • Maura Casadio, University of Genova, Genoa, Italy
Document Type
Article
Language
eng
Publication Date
4-6-2018
Publisher
Frontiers Media, S.A.
Abstract

Many neurological diseases impair the motor and somatosensory systems. While several different technologies are used in clinical practice to assess and improve motor functions, somatosensation is evaluated subjectively with qualitative clinical scales. Treatment of somatosensory deficits has received limited attention. To bridge the gap between the assessment and training of motor vs. somatosensory abilities, we designed, developed, and tested a novel, low-cost, two-component (bimanual) mechatronic system targeting tactile somatosensation: the Tactile-STAR—a tactile stimulator and recorder. The stimulator is an actuated pantograph structure driven by two servomotors, with an end-effector covered by a rubber material that can apply two different types of skin stimulation: brush and stretch. The stimulator has a modular design, and can be used to test the tactile perception in different parts of the body such as the hand, arm, leg, big toe, etc. The recorder is a passive pantograph that can measure hand motion using two potentiometers. The recorder can serve multiple purposes: participants can move its handle to match the direction and amplitude of the tactile stimulator, or they can use it as a master manipulator to control the tactile stimulator as a slave. Our ultimate goal is to assess and affect tactile acuity and somatosensory deficits. To demonstrate the feasibility of our novel system, we tested the Tactile-STAR with 16 healthy individuals and with three stroke survivors using the skin-brush stimulation. We verified that the system enables the mapping of tactile perception on the hand in both populations. We also tested the extent to which 30 min of training in healthy individuals led to an improvement of tactile perception. The results provide a first demonstration of the ability of this new system to characterize tactile perception in healthy individuals, as well as a quantification of the magnitude and pattern of tactile impairment in a small cohort of stroke survivors. The finding that short-term training with Tactile-STARcan improve the acuity of tactile perception in healthy individuals suggests that Tactile-STAR may have utility as a therapeutic intervention for somatosensory deficits.

Comments

Published version. Frontiers in Neurorobotics, Vol. 12, Article 12 (April 2018): 1-17. DOI. © 2018 Ballardini, Carlini, Giannoni, Scheidt, Nisky and Casadio. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Creative Commons License
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
Citation Information
Giulia Ballardini, Giorgio Carlini, Robert A. Scheidt, Ilana Nisky, et al.. "Tactile-STAR: A Novel Tactile STimulator And Recorder System for Evaluating and Improving Tactile Perception" Frontiers in Neurorobotics (2018) ISSN: 1662-5218
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/robert_scheidt/81/