A Novel Vibration-Emitting Smartphone Application to Clinically Assess Cutaneous Sensitivity

Date
2022-12-13
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Abstract

Functional sensibility is the capacity to perceive veridical sensory input at the fingertips. Sensibility is limited in the elderly due to regressive changes to mechanoreceptor density and morphology. It is these changes to mechanoreceptors that has been applied to sensibility monitoring instruments, with the focus of innovation on mobile devices. Contrary to traditional hand-held instruments, mobile devices have the unique quality to flexibly pair well-controlled vibration with validated psychophysical procedures. In this study, we evaluated a novel vibration-emitting smartphone application, the Vibratus App, as a mode of monitoring sensibility across ages. The peripheral nerve function of 40 neurologically healthy volunteers was measured using monofilaments, a 128-Hz tuning fork, the Vibratus App, and nerve conduction studies (NCS). Spearman correlation coefficients depicted the associative strength between hand-held measurements and age and sensory nerve action potential (SNAP) amplitude. Inter-rater reliability of human- versus computer-controlled instruments were assessed by intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Measurements taken with Vibratus App were found to significantly correlate with age (r (38) = 0.49, p = .001), and demonstrated a level of reliability (ICC = 0.57) that exceeded tuning fork testing (ICC = 0.51). The results of our study indicate that the Vibratus App may be a superior approach to measuring vibration sense when compared to traditional tuning fork testing, and sensitive to gradual changes in sensibility typical of the aging adult. The Vibratus App presents early evidence that quantitative, ubiquitous, and remote sensibility monitoring is achievable.

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Keywords
mHealth, Neuroscience, smartphone, geriatric, elderly, aging, somatosensory, sensation, tactile, cutaneous, sensitivity, sensibility
Citation
Lindsay, O. (2022). A novel vibration-emitting smartphone application to clinically assess cutaneous sensitivity (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.