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Type Master's Thesis
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title Dynamic information for prosthetic users: A study on tactile feedback.
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Maresa Afthinos
Supervisors
  • Rolf Pfeifer
  • Daniel Kiper
  • Alejandro Hernandez Arieta
Institution University of Zurich
Faculty Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Information Technology
Date 2010
Abstract Text Background: One of the main disadvantages in today’s prostheses is their lack of sensory feedback. To overcome this problem, many different ideas have been suggested. One of these approaches is called “sensory substitution”, and exploits the amazing plasticity of our brain. By providing sensory information from one modality through another one, people can regain some of the lost sensory functions. Tactile sensory substitution is achieved by stimulate directly the nerves of mechanoreceptors using a method called transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). In particular, electrical stimulation can be used to generate a moving sensation that we can exploit to transmit dynamical information to the body. Goal / Methods: Healthy subjects were tested on their ability to recognize the direction of the moving sensation. Stimulation patterns could differ in the signal intensity, the stimulation duration, the direction of the moving sensation, and the stimulation side. By analyzing the performance for each factor, we studied the optimal stimulation parameters. Furthermore, we investigated the effect of hemispheric dominance by comparing left-handed and right-handed subjects. Finally, we analyzed the performance in pre- and post-training tests to measure the effect of training on performance. Results / Conclusion: We found that in general, people are able to recognize the moving sensation. The results show that neither handedness, stimulation side, nor stimulation length have an influence on the ability to detect the direction. The important factor is the change in signal intensity required to create the moving sensation. Furthermore, we could show that people benefit from supervised training; they could increase and stabilize their performance. We can conclude that the combination of electrical stimulation and moving sensations provides a promising tool for tactile feedback systems.
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