A Robotic Platform to Assess, Guide and Perturb Rat Forelimb Movements
A Robotic Platform to Assess, Guide and Perturb Rat Forelimb Movements
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DOI：
10.1109/tnsre.2013.2240014
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发表时间：
2013-09-01
影响因子：
4.9
通讯作者：
Gassert, Roger
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Vigaru, Bogdan C.;Lambercy, Olivier;Gassert, Roger
动物模型被广泛用于探索感觉运动控制和学习的机制。然而，目前的实验范式只能对任务难度进行有限的控制，并且不能提供前肢运动学和动力学的详细信息。在此，我们提出了一种用于大鼠运动学习调查的新型机器人装置。紧凑、高度透明、三自由度的机械手能够提供2n的标称力来引导或干扰大鼠前肢运动，同时在50 x 30 mm(2)平面工作空间中提供客观和定量的端点运动性能评估。在6只健康大鼠身上进行的初步实验表明，这些动物能够熟悉实验装置，并能够抓住和操纵机器人的末端执行器。此外，装置呈现的动态扰动和引导力场（即触觉隧道）对大鼠运动行为有显著影响（方差分析，p < 0.001）。这一方法为未来在健康和中风模型中描述运动学习阶段开辟了新的研究途径。
Animal models are widely used to explore the mechanisms underlying sensorimotor control and learning. However, current experimental paradigms allow only limited control over task difficulty and cannot provide detailed information on forelimb kinematics and dynamics. Here we propose a novel robotic device for use in motor learning investigations with rats. The compact, highly transparent, three degree-of-freedom manipulandum is capable of rendering nominal forces of 2 N to guide or perturb rat forelimb movements, while providing objective and quantitative assessments of endpoint motor performance in a 50 x 30 mm(2) planar workspace. Preliminary experiments with six healthy rats show that the animals can be familiarized with the experimental setup and are able to grasp and manipulate the end-effector of the robot. Further, dynamic perturbations and guiding force fields (i.e., haptic tunnels) rendered by the device had significant influence on rat motor behavior (ANOVA, p < 0.001). This approach opens up new research avenues for future characterizations of motor learning stages, both in healthy and in stroke models.