ELECTROCUTANEOUS FEEDBACK SYSTEM TO IMPROVE THE ESTIMATION OF PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE FOOT

Jan Walter Schroeder, Venketesh N. Dubey, Tamas Hickish, Jonathan Cole

2011

Abstract

Peripheral neuropathy can result from diseases such as diabetes and also chemotherapy for cancer. This sensory loss can result in numbness and impairment of gait and balance. An electrocutaneous feedback system might help these patients to overcome these problems. The idea of such a device is to equip a shoe insole with force sensors that can detect pressure. The signals received by the sensor are processed and amplified in a suitable form and are redirected to an appropriate area of skin more proximal on the limb via an electrocutaneous feedback systems. In this work a low cost prototype is presented that represents a full functional electrocutaneous feedback system. The prototype uses 4 piezoresistive sensors that are placed on the insole of a shoe. The force sensors can detect the pressure that is applied to the foot. The electrocutaneous feedback is given through electrical pulses. The pulse amplitude and repetition frequency is fixed while the pulse length is controlled with the amplified signal for sensory feedback.

References

  1. Matjevic Z., Jensen P. L., 2008. Development and evaluation of a two-dimensional electrocutaneous cognitive feedback system for use in paraplegic standing, Journal of Medical Engineering & Technology, vol. 24, no. 5. pp. 215-226
  2. Jeonghun K., Mraz R., Baker N., A Data Glove with Tactile Feedback for fMRI of Virtual Reality Experiments, CyberPsychology & Behavior, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 497, 2003.
  3. Asamura, N.; Yokoyama, N.; Shinoda, H., 2002, Selectively stimulating skin receptors for tactile display, Computer Graphics and Applications, IEEE, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 32-37
  4. Kuiken T. A., P. D. Marasco, B. A. Lock et al,. 2007. Redirection of cutaneous sensation from the hand to the chest skin of human amputees with targeted reinnervation," 50, PNAS, pp. 20061-20066.
  5. Maheshwari V., and R. F. Saraf, 2008. Tactile Sensing To Sense on a Par with Human Finger. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., pp. 7808-7826.
  6. Cotton J., I. M. Graz, and S. P. Lacour. 2009. A Multifunctional Capacitive Sensor for Stretchable Electronic Skins. Ieee Sensors Journal, vol. 9, no. 12, pp. 2008-2009..
  7. Arshak K., E. Jafer, and A. Fox, 2005. Design of a new thick film capacitive pressure and circuitry interface. Composites Science and Technology, vol. 65, no. 5, pp. 757-764.
  8. Hollinger A., Wanderley M., 2006, Evaluation of Commercial Force-Sensing Resistors, Nime06
  9. Herrera-May, A. L. 2009, Electromechanical analysis of a piezoresistive pressure microsensor for low-pressure biomedical applications, Revista Mexicana De Fisica, vol. 55, no. 1, p. 14-24
  10. Zhang D., Guan T.H., 2007. Functional Electrical Stimulation in Rehabilitation Engineering: A Survey. Proceedings of the International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering & Assistive Technology. pp. 221-226.
  11. Sheffler L. R., and J. Chae. 2007. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation in neurorehabilitation. Muscle & Nerve, vol. 35, no. 5, pp. 562-590. Robertson, PhD, Alex Ward, PhD, John Low, BA(Hons), Electrotherapy Explained, 4th Edition - Principles and Practice, BUTTERWORTH HEINEMANN , MAY2006
  12. Lundborg G., B. Rosen, K. Lindstrom, 1998. Artificial sensibility based on the use of piezoresistive sensors - Preliminary observations. Journal of Hand SurgeryBritish and European Volume, vol. 23B, no. 5, pp. 620-626
Download


Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Schroeder J., N. Dubey V., Hickish T. and Cole J. (2011). ELECTROCUTANEOUS FEEDBACK SYSTEM TO IMPROVE THE ESTIMATION OF PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE FOOT . In Proceedings of the International Conference on Biomedical Electronics and Devices - Volume 1: BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2011) ISBN 978-989-8425-37-9, pages 386-390. DOI: 10.5220/0003167503860390


in Bibtex Style

@conference{biodevices11,
author={Jan Walter Schroeder and Venketesh N. Dubey and Tamas Hickish and Jonathan Cole},
title={ELECTROCUTANEOUS FEEDBACK SYSTEM TO IMPROVE THE ESTIMATION OF PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE FOOT},
booktitle={Proceedings of the International Conference on Biomedical Electronics and Devices - Volume 1: BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2011)},
year={2011},
pages={386-390},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0003167503860390},
isbn={978-989-8425-37-9},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the International Conference on Biomedical Electronics and Devices - Volume 1: BIODEVICES, (BIOSTEC 2011)
TI - ELECTROCUTANEOUS FEEDBACK SYSTEM TO IMPROVE THE ESTIMATION OF PRESSURE APPLIED TO THE FOOT
SN - 978-989-8425-37-9
AU - Schroeder J.
AU - N. Dubey V.
AU - Hickish T.
AU - Cole J.
PY - 2011
SP - 386
EP - 390
DO - 10.5220/0003167503860390