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Functional Microanatomical Model of Meissner Corpuscle

From Finite Element Model to Mechano-Transduction

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Haptics: Neuroscience, Devices, Modeling, and Applications (EuroHaptics 2014)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 8619))

Abstract

A multi-scale framework of human tactile sensation has been developed. The framework consists of two mechanical stages and a post-processing stage. In the first stage, a fingerpad and a stimulus are modelled. The second stage contains a slab of skin containing a Meissner corpuscle. The mechanical output of the second stage is processed by a mechanosensory channel activation model and a spike generator. To our knowledge, this is the first framework linking different levels of sensory processing from mechano-transduction to spike-train comparison. The results of the model are compared to the microneurographical data of a RA1 mechanosensory afferent fibre. The framework could be used as a tool for studying the finger pad-surface interaction in scientific and industrial communities related to touch.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the European Union under the FP7 programs FP7-NMP-228844 NanoBioTouch and FP7-PEOPLE-317100 Prototouch. The FEM models were prepared in cooperation with Rockfield Software Ltd. and C3M d.o.o. Experimental results were kindly provided by prof. Johan Wessberg from Department of Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Engineering, Zienkiewicz Centre for Computational Engineering, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea, SA2 8PP, UK

    Teja Vodlak & Zlatko Vidrih

  2. Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Department of Materials and Metallurgy, University of Ljubljana, Askerceva Cesta 12, 1000, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Teja Vodlak, Zlatko Vidrih, Primoz Pirih, Ales Skorjanc, Janez Presern & Tomaz Rodic

Authors
  1. Teja Vodlak
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  2. Zlatko Vidrih
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  3. Primoz Pirih
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  4. Ales Skorjanc
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  5. Janez Presern
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  6. Tomaz Rodic
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tomaz Rodic .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, Paris, France

    Malika Auvray

  2. Inria Lille, Villeneuve d'Ascq, France

    Christian Duriez

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Vodlak, T., Vidrih, Z., Pirih, P., Skorjanc, A., Presern, J., Rodic, T. (2014). Functional Microanatomical Model of Meissner Corpuscle. In: Auvray, M., Duriez, C. (eds) Haptics: Neuroscience, Devices, Modeling, and Applications. EuroHaptics 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 8619. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44196-1_46

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-44196-1_46

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-662-44195-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-662-44196-1

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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