Preliminary evaluation of the tactile feedback system based on artificial skin and electrotactile stimulation

This research is motivated by the need of integrating cutaneous sensing into a prosthetic device, enabling a bidirectional communication between the amputee and the prosthetic limb. An electronic skin based on piezoelectric polymer sensors transduces mechanical contact into electrical response which is conveyed to the human subject by electrotactile stimulation. Rectangular electrode arrays are placed on each patient´s forearm and experiments are conducted on five different subjects to determine how well the orientation, position and direction of single lines are recognized. Overall, subjects discriminate the different touch modalities with acceptable success rates. In particular, the direction is identified at best and longitudinal lines on the patient´s skin are recognized with the highest success rates. These preliminary results assess the feasibility of the artificial skin - electrostimulation system for prosthetic applications.