We have a tactile stimulator from Dancer Design.
note that we needed to have a powered USB extension (not only bass power cable) for RIKEN's setup. It may be because of about 20 meters extension we needed.
Below is warning to use the equipment.
mPTS / Plectrum instructions
- Important - never connect or disconnect any stimulator while the headbox is powered. This may result in instantly destroying the piezoelectric wafer. The LED on the headbox shows when power is on. This instruction applies to any of the connections - the grey plastic Redel connectors as well as the miniature 3-way plugs on the stimulators and the circular screw-in connectors.
- The miniature 3-way connectors can easily be pulled out so always ensure that the cable to the stimulator is supported or clipped to some object.
- The piezoelectric wafer is delicate so take care when handling that it is not dropped on a hard surface. Always start and end a session by setting the volume controls on the amplifier to zero so that a very large signal is not accidentally delivered to the stimulator the next time it is used.
- The wafer has a strong mechanical resonance at around 180Hz. It should not be driven by a large signal around this frequency if it is not in contact with the skin, otherwise excessive motion of the wafer may occurr. If the probe is touching the skin the resonance will be damped.
- The probe on the mPTS stimulator may be removed using the tools provided, for cleaning or to fit a new probe. Great care must be exercised when refitting the probe not to place stress on the piezo wafer.
- The amplifier inputs accept audio line-level signals of 2V pk-pk. Signals produced by a PC sound card are suitable and a stereo cable is provided is for this purpose. When using this cable the red plug (right audio, channel 1) should go to input 1 or 3 and black or white (left audio, channel 2) to input 2 or 4. Driving the input at greater than 2V will not cause any damage.
- The RF filter removes radio frequency interference from the cables. Ideally it should be fitted into the penetration panel of the MRI room. If this is not possible it may be placed close to the penetration panel with the cable running through a waveguide into the scanner room. In this case the metal filter casing should be electrically connected to the metal of the penetration panel. A car battery “jump lead” is suitable for this.