"Computational Models of Pacinian Corpuscles - Human Haptics"
Date7th Dec 2020
Time02:00 PM
Venue Google meet: https://urlprotection-tko.global.sonicwall.com/click?PV=1&MSGID=202012011029260134306&U
PAST EVENT
Details
Human haptics refers to the functional anatomy and physiology of motor and somatosensory systems in humans. Our works involve developing vibrotactile perception models in human haptics, with applications to machine haptics and robotics. Pacinian Corpuscle (PC) is one of the four main mechanoreceptors. It senses high-frequency vibrations. Existing PC models describe the physiology of individual PCs. However, vibration is felt in humans by clusters of PCs rather than a single PC. Our work investigates how a stimulus’s characteristics, such as amplitude, frequency, and location over the skin, are sensed by a PC cluster and transmitted to the CNS through various computational models. In this research, we develop a computational model: 1) to understand how the source localization of a mechanical stimulus (vibration) applied over the skin is transmitted as a neuronal signal, 2) to explain how certain electrical stimuli applied over the skin through an electrode elicits vibration sensation, 3) to understand how the vibration sensation gets altered in the presence of both electrical and mechanical stimulation, and finally, 4) to understand how two electrical stimuli excite a single PC channel. The first model mentioned above relates the time-division multiplexing in Telecommunications to the transmission of neural impulses from a PC cluster. The remaining models focus on the stimulation aspects, finding their applications in designing and implementing electrotactile displays. The characterizations we reported using our models can be applied to design and implement better haptic devices.
Speakers
Mr. MADHAN KUMAR V, (AM16D023)
Applied Mechanics