Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Published Online January 29, 2009
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1166467

Reports

Submitted on September 26, 2008
Accepted on January 16, 2009

The Role of Fingerprints in the Coding of Tactile Information Probed with a Biomimetic Sensor

J. Scheibert 1, S. Leurent 1, A. Prevost 1, G. Debrégeas 1*

1 Laboratoire de Physique Statistique de l'ENS, UMR 8550, CNRS–ENS–Université Paris 6 & Paris 7, 24 rue Lhomond F–75231 Paris, France.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
G. Debrégeas , E-mail: georges.debregeas{at}lps.ens.fr

In humans, the tactile perception of fine textures (spatial scale <200 µm) is mediated by skin vibrations generated as the finger scans the surface. To establish the relationship between texture characteristics and subcutaneous vibrations, a biomimetic tactile sensor has been designed whose dimensions match those of the fingertip. When the sensor surface is patterned with parallel ridges mimicking the fingerprints, the spectrum of vibrations elicited by randomly textured substrates is dominated by one frequency set by the ratio of the scanning speed to the inter-ridge distance. For human touch, this frequency falls within the optimal range of sensitivity of Pacinian afferents which mediate the coding of fine textures. Thus, fingerprints may perform spectral selection and amplification of tactile information that facilitate its processing by specific mechanoreceptors.




To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)