Understanding Human Touch and Sensory Feedback to Improve Prosthetic Devices A Study on How Touch Works and Can Help People Using Prostheses

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying how our sense of touch works in healthy adults to improve sensory feedback in prosthetic devices. The project aims to understand the firing of touch-sensitive nerve receptors in the body in response to different stimuli, including texture, temperature, and emotional states. This research also explores how touch perception changes with age and after limb amputation to help develop better prostheses for amputees. Participants will experience various interventions such as touching different surfaces with varying textures and temperatures, listening to music to change emotional states, and receiving gentle electrical stimulation to activate single nerve fibers. These activities are designed to record how the nerves respond and how touch sensations are perceived. The study includes several experimental groups focusing on different aspects of touch and prosthetic feedback. During up to six-hour experiment sessions, researchers will use microneurography to record nerve activity along with other measures like heart rate, muscle activity, brain waves, and skin response. Participants will also provide ratings of how pleasant, rough, or intense the sensations feel. The study involves healthy adults aged 20 to 70, including a group of amputees. All assessments occur during or shortly after the stimulation, helping scientists understand how to create realistic sensory feedback for prosthetic users.

Studies Into Touch in Healthy Humans to Provide Sensory Feedback in Prostheses