Design of an fMRI-compatible pneumatic tactile array for spatiotemporal stimulation

A functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) compatible haptic interface is drawing interest from neuroscientists in recent years. The strong magnetic field of the MRI scanner prevents the use of the commercially available tactile display. Previous studies showed the potential of pneumatic actuation techniques, limited to temporal stimulation. In this study, we proposed a modulated pneumatic tactile array and evaluated its safety and feasibility in an fMRI experiment. The development of a high spatial-temporal resolution tactile interface will open a wide range of complicated experiments for investigating the processing of tactile information inside human brain.