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Computational Model of a Pacinian Corpuscle for Hybrid-Stimuli: Spike-Rate and Threshold Characteristics

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Computational Intelligence in Healthcare

Part of the book series: Health Information Science ((HIS))

Abstract

Purpose: Tactile displays convey various aspects of touch through mechanical or electrical stimuli. Recent research focuses on combining these two types of stimulation (hybrid stimuli) to achieve naturalness, comfort, and reduction in the threshold, only by experiment. However, there are no computational models to study the Pacinian corpuscle’s behavior under hybrid-stimuli.

Method: We developed a novel hybrid-stimuli Pacinian corpuscle model and characterized its spike-rate and threshold responses. Our model comprises biomechanical and electrical components, both of which are excited simultaneously by hybrid stimuli. We chose stimuli shape as either trapezoidal or sinusoidal, with a frequency from 5 Hz to 1600 Hz, both electrical and mechanical. We characterized the model by first considering the electrical current as an actual stimulus and mechanical vibration as a sub-threshold (magnitude less than the threshold required to produce one impulse-per-cycle response), and then the vice versa.

Results: The spike-rate characteristics exhibit a well-known phase-locking phenomenon. However, the plateaus shift toward the left as the sub-threshold stimulus amplitude increases. Furthermore, the threshold versus frequency curve shifts down. Finally, we observed a monotonic decrease in the threshold of the stimulus as the amplitude of the sub-threshold stimulus increases.

Conclusion: The shifts shown in both spike-rate and threshold characteristics indicate a significant reduction in the actual stimulus threshold. The hybrid-stimuli Pacinian corpuscle model developed and characterized in this study can be useful in improving the design of tactile displays.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to appreciate the suggestions given by the members of Haptics Lab for the improvement of this model.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Touch Lab, Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India

    V. Madhan Kumar & M. Manivannan

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, Loma Linda University Health System, Loma Linda, CA, USA

    Venkatraman Sadanand

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  1. V. Madhan Kumar
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  2. Venkatraman Sadanand
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  3. M. Manivannan
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Electrical Engineering, MRS Punjab Technical University, Bathinda, India

    Amit Kumar Manocha

  2. Electronics & Communication Engineering, Jaypee University of Information Technol, Solan, India

    Shruti Jain

  3. Electrical & Instrumentation Engineering, Thapar University, Patiala, India

    Mandeep Singh

  4. Biomedical Engineering Department, North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India

    Sudip Paul

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Madhan Kumar, V., Sadanand, V., Manivannan, M. (2021). Computational Model of a Pacinian Corpuscle for Hybrid-Stimuli: Spike-Rate and Threshold Characteristics. In: Manocha, A.K., Jain, S., Singh, M., Paul, S. (eds) Computational Intelligence in Healthcare. Health Information Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68723-6_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-68723-6_21

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