Abstract
This paper describes a new robot-based tool for assessing tactile deficits in the hand of neurologically impaired individuals. Automating tactile assessment could: (1) increase the reliability of the measurement, (2) facilitate assessment in patients with limited mobility, and (3) decrease the time needed to assess tactile deficits. Using a portable robot, all probes needed for clinical or scientific assessment can be presented to the fingertip at a predefined scanning speed (dynamic mode), or pressed against the skin for a precisely defined amount of time with controlled contact force (static mode). In addition to the data collected from the sensors that are used to control the motion of the robot, four force sensors located underneath the sample holder for probes presented in dynamic mode allow precise estimation of the contact force. The usability of the device is demonstrated in a preliminary study investigating the roughness and edge detection thresholds in five healthy subjects.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a fellowship within the Postdoc-Program of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), as well as by EU-FP7 PEOPLE-ITN-317488-CONTEST, ICT-601003 BALANCE, ICT-2013-10 SYMBITRON, and EU-H2020 ICT-644727 COGIMON.
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Wilhelm, E., Mace, M., Takagi, A., Farkhatdinov, I., Guy, S., Burdet, E. (2016). Investigating Tactile Sensation in the Hand Using a Robot-Based Tactile Assessment Tool. In: Bello, F., Kajimoto, H., Visell, Y. (eds) Haptics: Perception, Devices, Control, and Applications. EuroHaptics 2016. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9775. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42324-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42324-1_2
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