Jia Liu, Anders Bjorkman, Christian Antfolk, Nebojsa Malesevic
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
The growing need for human-machine interfaces (HMIs) underscores the importance of sensory feedback, with electrical stimulation offering efficient interaction in various applications. While its sensory effects are extensively studied, investigations into the reaction time (RT) following transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TES) remain limited. This study aimed to evaluate how stimulation parameters influence RT. We examined RT and RT variability among twenty healthy participants aged 21 to 61 years. Participants underwent 16 stimulation patterns (10 repetitions per pattern) with combinations of four pulse frequencies (4, 26, 48, 70 Hz) and four pulse amplitudes (1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 times of sensory threshold) on four skin locations in the lower leg above peroneal nerve, tibial nerve, tibialis anterior muscle, and a lateral shank control site. RT was assessed as participants dorsiflexed their foot in response to electrical stimulation. Results revealed that both RT and its variability decreased as pulse frequency and amplitude increased, and there was an interaction effect between pulse frequency and amplitude. However, no significant difference was found in RT across stimulation locations. These findings demonstrate how stimulation parameters affect the speed and efficiency of communication between the user and the stimulator, showing promises for augmenting real-time feedback HMIs.
期刊介绍:
IEEE Transactions on Haptics (ToH) is a scholarly archival journal that addresses the science, technology, and applications associated with information acquisition and object manipulation through touch. Haptic interactions relevant to this journal include all aspects of manual exploration and manipulation of objects by humans, machines and interactions between the two, performed in real, virtual, teleoperated or networked environments. Research areas of relevance to this publication include, but are not limited to, the following topics: Human haptic and multi-sensory perception and action, Aspects of motor control that explicitly pertain to human haptics, Haptic interactions via passive or active tools and machines, Devices that sense, enable, or create haptic interactions locally or at a distance, Haptic rendering and its association with graphic and auditory rendering in virtual reality, Algorithms, controls, and dynamics of haptic devices, users, and interactions between the two, Human-machine performance and safety with haptic feedback, Haptics in the context of human-computer interactions, Systems and networks using haptic devices and interactions, including multi-modal feedback, Application of the above, for example in areas such as education, rehabilitation, medicine, computer-aided design, skills training, computer games, driver controls, simulation, and visualization.