TY - JOUR
T1 - Object Shape and Surface Topology Recognition Using Tactile Feedback Evoked through Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation
AU - Vargas, Luis
AU - Huang, He
AU - Zhu, Yong
AU - Hu, Xiaogang
N1 - Funding Information:
Manuscript received September 30, 2019; revised January 8, 2020; accepted January 13, 2020. Date of publication January 15, 2020; date of current version March 17, 2020. This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant IIS-1637892 and in part by the National Institute of Health under Grant 1 F31 NS110364-01A1. (Corresponding author: Xiaogang Hu.) L. Vargas, He Huang, and X. Hu are with the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and NC State University, Chapel Hill,, North Carolina 27603, United States (e-mail: lgvargas@ncsu. edu; hehuang@email.unc.edu; xiaogang@unc.edu).
Funding Information:
This work was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant IIS-1637892 and in part by the National Institute of Health under Grant 1 F31 NS110364-01A1. (Corresponding author: Xiaogang Hu.)
Publisher Copyright:
© 2008-2011 IEEE.
PY - 2020/1/1
Y1 - 2020/1/1
N2 - Tactile feedback is critical for distinguishing different object properties. In this article, we determined if tactile feedback evoked by transcutaneous nerve stimulation can be used to detect objects of different shape and surface topology. To evoke tactile sensation at different fingers, a 2x8 electrode grid was placed along the subject's upper arm, and two concurrent electrical stimulation trains targeted the median and ulnar nerve bundles, which evoked individually modulated sensations at different fingers. Fingertip forces of the prosthetic hand were transformed to stimulation current amplitude. Object shape was encoded based on finger-object contact timing. Surface topology represented by ridge height and spacing was encoded through current amplitude and stimulation time interval, respectively. The elicited sensation allowed subjects to determine object shape with success rates >84%. Surface topology recognition resulted in success rates >81%. Our findings suggest that tactile feedback evoked from transcutaneous nerve stimulation allows the recognition of object shape and surface topology. The ability to recognize these properties may help improve object manipulation and promote fine control of a prosthetic hand.
AB - Tactile feedback is critical for distinguishing different object properties. In this article, we determined if tactile feedback evoked by transcutaneous nerve stimulation can be used to detect objects of different shape and surface topology. To evoke tactile sensation at different fingers, a 2x8 electrode grid was placed along the subject's upper arm, and two concurrent electrical stimulation trains targeted the median and ulnar nerve bundles, which evoked individually modulated sensations at different fingers. Fingertip forces of the prosthetic hand were transformed to stimulation current amplitude. Object shape was encoded based on finger-object contact timing. Surface topology represented by ridge height and spacing was encoded through current amplitude and stimulation time interval, respectively. The elicited sensation allowed subjects to determine object shape with success rates >84%. Surface topology recognition resulted in success rates >81%. Our findings suggest that tactile feedback evoked from transcutaneous nerve stimulation allows the recognition of object shape and surface topology. The ability to recognize these properties may help improve object manipulation and promote fine control of a prosthetic hand.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078214377&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85078214377&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/TOH.2020.2967366
DO - 10.1109/TOH.2020.2967366
M3 - Article
C2 - 31976905
AN - SCOPUS:85078214377
SN - 1939-1412
VL - 13
SP - 152
EP - 158
JO - IEEE Transactions on Haptics
JF - IEEE Transactions on Haptics
IS - 1
M1 - 8961131
ER -