Haptic Interfaces for Accessibility, Health, and Enhanced Quality of Life by Troy McDaniel & Sethuraman Panchanathan

Author:Troy McDaniel & Sethuraman Panchanathan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030342302
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

4 Stimulation Therapy

Stimulation therapies and treatment programs focus on basic stimuli to target areas of the brain to achieve therapeutic goals. This section focuses on techniques using vibrotactile and pressure stimulation with some coverage of thermal stimulation.

Vaucelle et al. [23], inspired by touch therapy procedures found in sensory integration and sensory grounding therapies, propose four novel haptic devices: Touch Me, Squeeze Me, Hurt Me, and Cool Me Down. Touch Me consists of a large felt wrap embedded with an array of vibration motors, driven by a music keyboard such that intensity and body site of the vibrotactile stimulation can be varied. Touch Me allows patients and caregivers to conduct touch therapy sessions anytime over a distance. Squeeze Me consists of a vest of inflatable pneumatic chambers distributed around the torso and activated with the push of a button. Squeeze Me provides distributed stimulation to simulate the pressure of weighted vests/blankets and therapeutic holding. Hurt Me consists of a wearable bracelet of inflatable pneumatic bladders that push embedded plastic, rounded “teeth” into the skin for controlled, safe pain. Cool Me Down consists of a computerized wrap that may be applied to any part of the body for thermal stimulation at temperature variations that are safe. Technologies for “on-the-go” thermal stimulation are beginning to be explored and commercialized: The Embr Wave, by Embr labs1, is a wrist-worn device for “anytime, anywhere” thermal stimulation for temperature comfort.

Vibroacoustic therapy (VAT), first proposed in the 1960s, combines music and low-frequency vibrotactile stimulation (typically 20–120 Hz) for relaxation and meditation. The health benefits of the multimodality of VAT, i.e., compared to music alone, have been well demonstrated. In a study by Koike et al. [24] involving fifteen elderly nursing home residents with depression, VAT was investigated for its therapeutic benefits for this population. Participants used the device for thirty minutes per day for two weeks (excluding weekends). Classical music was played through speakers embedded in the mattress near the head. Six vibration motors were embedded in the mattress near the upper body (shoulders) and lower body (waist and femoral region). Survey instruments (self-ratings), physiological signals (e.g., heart rate, tympanic temperature), and measures related to sleep duration and quality were collected. After VAT treatment, statistically significant reductions in heart rate and tympanic temperature were found. Further, statistically significant increases in waking hours during the day were found. Finally, survey instruments revealed statistically significant improvements in sadness and depression, indicating that VAT helped with relaxation. For interested readers, Punkanen and Ala-Ruona [25] present a detailed contemporary survey of VAT. The accumulated results of VAT demonstrate its potential for reducing tension, spasticity, pain, stress, and even challenging behaviors present in developmental disabilities and ASD. Punkanen and Ala-Ruona outline hypotheses around its therapeutic benefits including: (i) relaxation response, by matching frequencies between VAT and the patient’s own natural resonate frequency, targeting specific muscles; (ii) inhibition of pain through stimulation of the Pacinian corpuscles; and (iii) use of vibration to facilitate a cellular cleansing process.

Serin et al. [26] investigated the therapeutic

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