A New Technique for the Controlled Stimulation of the Skin

Abstract

Traditional methods of skin stimulation for psychophysical, neurophysiologic studies and other investigations involve the use of indentation. We will describe an apparatus intended to cause skin tangential deformation in a controlled manner, which is motivated by much recent evidence suggesting that such stimulation is both behaviorally and physiologically relevant. What the apparatus does is to contact the skin at two locations separated by a distance of about one millimeter, and stretch and compress it by using piezoelectric benders. The mechanical behavior of the skin at this scale is not quantitatively known. We designed the lateral skin stimulator to have a programmable mechanical impedance. This enables us to test the response of the skin mechanically, behaviorally and neurophysiologically with a wide range of conditions.