사용자 동작 정보 기반 고유수용성감각 자극 장치

Abstract

Proprioception is an important sensory function that can notice the person’s own movement. Due to the brain injuries like stroke, there are many patients suffering from the weakness in this sensory function. In the sensory-motor system, the weakness in the proprioceptive sensory function causes the disadvantages in the motor function and therefore enhancing proprioception would enhance the sensory-motor performance. In this study, we made a band-type proprioception stimulator by using small vibration modules. The stimulator consists of the IMU to sense the movement of the user and four vibration modules to provide the vibration to stimulate the proprioception in four directions. The vibration module makes good contact with the skin due to the pressure of the band, and provides vibration which can stimulate the receptors that senses the proprioception. In addition, the sensed vibration at the skin could be used as the sensory data that notices the movement. As the movement of the user is sensed through the IMU, the stimulator gives the feedback stimulations, which can notify the direction of the movement to the users. This feedback system could support the weak proprioceptive sensory function. Also, it may enhance the sensory function itself through the additional sensory stimulation to the peripheral nervous system.