FURI | Spring 2018

The Effects of Electrotactile Stimulation over Multiple Feedback Sites through Proprioceptive Mapping

Previous studies have shown that visual and somatosensory signals are required to estimate a user’s hand spatial locations in perspective to an area. Electrotactile stimulation can restore missing sensory responses in prosthetic subjects; however, it is still unclear how electrotactile stimulation affects proprioception of the finger in terms of direction and magnitude over a two-dimensional proprioceptive map. Touch conditions plotted over a two-dimensional proprioceptive have been compared between hover conditions and index finger tip induced electrotactile stimulation over the same proprioceptive map. Touch conditions remain more accurate when focusing on visual estimation within a given area.