A protocol for tactile function assessment using JVP domes: Feasibility study and preliminary results.

BACKGROUND: Touch is a crucial sense for perceiving the spatial characteristics of objects. The JVP dome was developed to evaluate tactile spatial acuity using a grating orientation task. There were few studies depicting sequences and details for the entire task, including practice, training, and testing sessions. Therefore, we proposed and elaborated a protocol for the grating orientation task using the staircase method, which required fewer testing trials compared with the method of constant stimuli. METHODS: Twenty-three healthy participants were enrolled in this experiment. The JVP domes with 11 different groove widths were used. Tactile discrimination thresholds were estimated using a two-down-one-up staircase method. The experiment comprised practice, training, and testing sessions, conducted by trained examiners who performed grating stimulation on participants' index fingerpads. RESULTS: All participants passed the required accuracy in the practice and training sessions. Eight transition points were obtained in the testing session for each participant. The tactile discrimination thresholds were determined from the last six transition points. We obtained the mean tactile discrimination threshold as 1.8 ± 0.75 mm (n = 23). The results demonstrated that the proposed protocol was successfully applied to assess tactile discrimination thresholds. CONCLUSIONS: The present study investigated the protocol of grating orientation tasks requiring a small number of testing trials with the assurance of the task quality. The feasibility study and preliminary results indicated the potentiality of this protocol for future clinical application.

A Novel Tactile Function Assessment Using a Miniature Tactile Stimulator.

Several methods for the measurement of tactile acuity have been devised previously, but unexpected nonspatial cues and intensive manual skill requirements compromise measurement accuracy. Therefore, we must urgently develop an automated, accurate, and noninvasive method for assessing tactile acuity. The present study develops a novel method applying a robotic tactile stimulator to automatically measure tactile acuity that comprises eye-opened, eye-closed training, and testing sessions. Healthy participants judge the orientation of a rotating grating ball presented on their index fingerpads in a two-alternative forced-choice task. A variable rotation speed of 5, 10, 40, or 160 mm/s was used for the tactile measurement at a variety of difficulties. All participants met the passing criteria for the training experiment. Performance in orientation identification, quantified by the proportion of trials with correct answers, differed across scanning directions, with the highest rotation speed (160 mm/s) having the worst performance. Accuracy did not differ between vertical and horizontal orientations. Our results demonstrated the utility of the pre-test training protocol and the functionality of the developed procedure for tactile acuity assessment. The novel protocol performed well when applied to the participants. Future studies will be conducted to apply this method to patients with impairment of light touch.

Usability Assessment of a Cable-Driven Exoskeletal Robot for Hand Rehabilitation.

Study design: Case series. Background: Robot-assisted rehabilitation mediated by exoskeletal devices is a popular topic of research. The biggest difficulty in the development of rehabilitation robots is the consideration of the clinical needs. This study investigated the usability of a novel cable-driven exoskeletal robot specifically designed for hand rehabilitation. Methods: The study consists of three steps, including prototype development, spasticity observation, and usability evaluation. First, we developed the prototype robot DexoHand to manipulate the patient's fingers based on the clinical needs and the cable-driven concept established in our previous work. Second, we applied DexoHand to patients with different levels of spasticity. Finally, we obtained the system usability scale (SUS) and assessed its usability. Results: Two healthy subjects were recruited in the pre-test, and 18 patients with stroke and four healthy subjects were recruited in the formal test for usability. The total SUS score obtained from the patients and healthy subjects was 94.77 ± 2.98 (n = 22), indicating an excellent level of usability. The satisfaction score was 4.74 ± 0.29 (n = 22), revealing high satisfaction with DexoHand. The tension profile measured by the cables showed the instantaneous force used to manipulate fingers among different muscle tone groups. Conclusions: DexoHand meets the clinical needs with excellent usability, satisfaction, and reliable tension force monitoring, yielding a feasible platform for robot-assisted hand rehabilitation.

A home-made low-cost hydraulic swivel and catheter assembly for blood pressure recording and drug infusion in freely moving mice.

We constructed a chassis that tightly fixes catheters for cannulation to the muscle. It can buffer pulling forces to avoid a mechanical tearing of the skin of mice as a result of movement. A simple hydraulic swivel was also made for blood pressure recording and drug infusion in freely moving mice.