Improving Sensory Neuroprostheses: Measuring Vibrations with a Tactile Sensor

Talya Simcox

Mentor: Nitish Thakor

Supervisor: Mark Iskarous

Neuroengineering & Biomedical Instrumental Lab, Johns Hopkins Homewood Campus

Approximately 1.3 million Americans are living with some form of limb loss, causing many to turn to using prosthetic limbs. The benefits of prosthetic limbs include more mobility and ability to perform daily tasks, which increases independence. When the prosthetic limb is connected to the nervous system, it is referred to as a neural prosthesis. While body-powered prosthetics have a high rejection rate, are heavy, and are difficult to operate, neuroprosthetics solve those issues and allow for more function. This study aims to improve our understanding of neural prostheses and mimic the functions of the biological hand. In this experiment, a tactile sensor is attached to the prosthetic hand, which mimics the sensory signals sent to the neural interface. The tactile sensor is force or pressure sensitive and is designed by crossing strips of conductive fabric that are separated by a piezoresistive tactile layer. The sensor is being used to determine the distribution of vibrations. The results from the sensor reading showed that the vibrations distributed from the vibration module and fanned out, as well as the strength of the frequency changing the how the vibrations distributed. Overall, relating the tactile sensor to the biological hand allows for the neuroprosthetic to be able to mimic the biological hand more closely.