The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has created a touch-sensing glove capable of correctly assessing the pressure applied to an item, which might be used to assist retrain motor function in stroke patients.
The pressure sensors implanted in the tactile glove are said to be comparable to those used to monitor humidity.
Humidity sensors, which are designed as tiny capacitors with two electrodes sandwiched between a dielectric substance that shuttles charges between the two, absorb charged ions from the atmosphere in a way that can be measured and converted to detect the amount of humidity.
They fabricated a glove with thousands of microscopic filaments that were sprayed with gold, a conductor, and placed them on the skin. When pressure was applied to one electrode, ions from the skin’s natural moisture would accumulate on the underside, and change the capacitance between both electrodes, which they could measure.
It allowed the researchers to design the glove even more sensitive, allowing them to precisely assess the difference between how one may handle a balloon – where touch is widely distributed – and a jar, where pressure is mainly concentrated at the fingers.
“The simplicity and dependability of our sensing structure offers tremendous potential for a variety of health care applications, such as pulse detection and regaining sensory capabilities in patients with tactile dysfunction,” said Nicholas Fang, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT.
