Temporal and spatial characteristics of bone conduction as non-invasive haptic sensory feedback for upper-limb prosthesis

Bone conduction is a promising haptic feedback modality for upper-limb prosthesis users, however, its potential and characteristics as a non-invasive feedback modality have not been thoroughly investigated. This study aimed to establish the temporal and spatial characteristics of non-invasive bone conduction as a sensory feedback interface for upper-limb prostheses. Psychometric human-subject experiments were conducted on three bony landmarks of the elbow, with a vibrotactile transducer affixed to each to provide the stimulus. The study characterized the temporal domain by testing perception threshold and resolution in amplitude and frequency. The spatial domain was evaluated by assessing the ability of subjects to detect the number of simultaneous active stimulation sites. The experiment was conducted with ten able-bodied subjects and compared to two subjects with trans-radial amputation. The psychometric evaluation of the proposed non-invasive bone conduction feedback showed results comparable to invasive methods. The experimental results demonstrated similar amplitude and frequency resolution of the interface for all three stimulation sites for both able-bodied subjects and subjects with trans-radial amputation, highlighting its potential as a non-invasive feedback modality for upper-limb prostheses.