Development of a Tactile Analysis Model based on 3-D Mechanical Structure of Skin Considering Collagen Fibers

• Project/Area Number: 26540082
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Perceptual information processing
• Research Institution: Nagoya Institute of Technology
• Principal Investigator: TANAKA Yoshihiro 名古屋工業大学, 工学(系)研究科(研究院), 助教 (90432286)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): USUDA Nobuteru 藤田保健衛生大学, 医学部, 教授 (30135123)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): HIDA Takehiko 藤田保健衛生大学, 医療科学部, 教授 (20097736)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2014)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000); Fiscal Year 2014: ¥2,990,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥690,000)
• Keywords: 触覚 / 皮下組織 / 膠原繊維 / パチニ小体 / 歪エネルギー密度 / 触覚センサ / 皮膚 / 広受容野 / ひずみエネルギー密度

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Skin is important for tactile sensation since the skin works for mechanoreceptors as mechanical signal processing. This study has focused on collagen fibers within subcutaneous tissue, which has been often analyzed by using a uniform model, and proposed a new skin model including collagen fibers. The aim of this study is a development of a 3-D skin model capable of simulating the transmission of mechanical stimuli given the skin to mechanoreceptors. First, the proposed model was verified by using 2-D model compared to previous studies, and dynamic analysis using the proposed model showed that collagen fibers contribute high sensitivity and broad receptive field for tactile sense. Then, consecutive transverse cross-sectional samples of a postmortem Macaca fuscata’s finger were created and 3-D texture of collagen fibers was observed under a microscope.

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Collagen fibers induce expansion of receptive field of Pacinian corpuscles (2015)
  • Author(s): Yoshihiro Tanka, Tatsuya Ito, Masayoshi Hashimoto, Motoaki Fukasawa, Nobuteru Usuda, Akihito Sano
  • Journal Title: Advanced Robotics Volume: 29 Issue: 11 Pages: 1-7
  • DOI: 10.1080/01691864.2014.1003194
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Acknowledgement Compliant
• [Presentation] 触知覚メカニズムの理解と活用 (2015)
  • Author(s): 田中由浩
  • Organizer: 日本機械学会機械力学・計測制御部門東北地区ダイナミックス＆コントロール研究会
  • Place of Presentation: 仙台
  • Year and Date: 2015-02-10
  • Invited
• [Presentation] 膠原線維を考慮した皮膚モデルに関する基礎検討 (2014)
  • Author(s): 橋本真佳, 田中由浩, 深澤元晶, 臼田信光, 肥田岳彦, 佐野明人
  • Organizer: 第15回計測自動制御学会システムインテグレーション部門講演会(SI2014)
  • Place of Presentation: 東京
  • Year and Date: 2014-12-14 – 2014-12-17