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Tactile and Chemical Senses

Tactile and Chemical Senses

Tactile senses encompass touch, temperature, and pain, each mediated by specific receptors. Touch receptors detect mechanical energy or pressure against the skin. Sensory fibers from these receptors enter the spinal cord and relay information to the brain stem. Here, most fibers cross over to the opposite side of the brain. The touch information then moves to the thalamus, which projects a map of the body's surface onto the somatosensory areas of the parietal lobes in the cerebral cortex.

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Updated: Nov 21, 2025

A Silicon-tipped Fiber-optic Sensing Platform with High Resolution and Fast Response

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Published on: January 7, 2019

Optical Micro/Nanofiber-Enabled Compact Tactile Sensor for Hardness Discrimination.

Yao Tang¹, Haitao Liu², Jing Pan¹

¹State Key Laboratory of Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China.

ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces

|January 13, 2021

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

We developed a compact tactile sensor using optical micro/nanofibers (MNFs) for ultrasensitive touch and pressure detection. This sensor demonstrates high-fidelity tactile sensing, enabling precise hardness discrimination beyond human capability.

Keywords:

hardness discrimination optical micro/nanofiber pressure sensor tactile sensor tissue palpation.

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Measurement of Vibration Detection Threshold and Tactile Spatial Acuity in Human Subjects

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Published on: September 1, 2016

Area of Science:

Biomedical Engineering
Materials Science
Optoelectronics

Background:

Optical micro/nanofibers (MNFs) offer potential for ultrasensitive tactile sensing due to their compact size and fast response.
Restoring tactile information is crucial for minimally invasive robotic surgery and tissue palpation.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop a compact tactile sensor (CTS) utilizing an optical MNF for high-fidelity tactile sensing.
To evaluate the sensor's performance in detecting pressure, discriminating hardness, and its applicability in biological tissue analysis.

Main Methods:

Fabrication of a compact tactile sensor (CTS) with a 1.5 mm diameter, centered around an optical MNF.
Continuous optical signal transduction for touch and pressure stimuli.
Testing in pressing, scanning, and tapping modes to assess sensitivity, resolution, and hardness discrimination capabilities.

Main Results:

The CTS achieved high pressure-sensing sensitivity (0.108 mN⁻¹) and resolution (0.031 mN).
Successfully discriminated hardness differences in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) samples, exceeding human tactile ability.
Demonstrated feasibility for hardness identification in biological tissues, including pork liver and adductor muscle.

Conclusions:

The MNF-enabled CTS provides continuous, high-fidelity tactile readouts for precise pressure and hardness sensing.
The sensor's capabilities extend to applications in surgical robotics, tissue palpation, and object identification.
This technology shows promise for enhancing sensory feedback in robotic surgery and medical diagnostics.