K.A. Kaczmarek

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• Ph.D.
• Sr. Scientist - Retired at University of Wisconsin–Madison

Introduction Mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (mmTBI) that lead to deficits in balance and gait are difficult to resolve through standard therapy protocols, and these deficits can severely impact a patient's quality of life. Recently, translingual neural stimulation (TLNS) has emerged as a potential therapy for mmTBI-related balance and gait...

Background and purpose: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can lead to movement and balance deficits. In addition to physical therapy, brain-based neurorehabilitation efforts have begun to show promise in improving these deficits. The present study investigated the effectiveness of translingual neural stimulation (TLNS) on patients with mild-to-moderate...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) of varying severity can result in balance and movement disorders, for which the benefits of treatment with physical therapy has limits. In this study, patients with post-TBI balance issues received translingual neural stimulation (TLNS) in concert with physical therapy and the effects on the grey matter volume (GMV) wer...

Objective: To compare the efficacy of high- and low-frequency noninvasive translingual neurostimulation (TLNS) plus targeted physical therapy (PT) for treating chronic balance and gait deficits due to mild-to-moderate traumatic brain injury (mmTBI). Design: Participants were randomized 1:1 in a 26-week double-blind phase 1/2 study (NCT02158494)...

The Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS) is a compact, self-contained device that delivers a fixed sequence of dc-balanced voltage pulses to the anterior-dorsal tongue through a matrix of 143 gold-plated electrodes. This form of stimulation is being investigated as a possible aid to rehabilitation of motor, cognitive, and emotional symptoms r...

Sensations elicited by electrical stimulation of touch are multidimensional, varying in perceived intensity and quality in response to changes in stimulus current or waveform timing. This study manipulated both current and frequency while volunteer participants estimated the dissimilarity of all nonidentical pairs of 16 stimulus conditions. Multidi...

In a patient suffering from neural impairment, stimulation is provided to sensory surfaces of the face and/or neck, or more generally to areas of the body that stimulate the trigeminal nerve, while performing an activity intended to stimulate a brain function to be rehabilitated. The simulation may then be continued after the performance of the act...

Background This study sought to examine the effect of targeted physical therapy with and without cranial nerve non-invasive neuromodulation (CN-NINM), on the walking ability of people with MS who exhibited a dysfunctional gait. We hypothesized that subjects who received electrical stimulation would have greater improvement than those who had a cont...

With a large number of receptive channels, the human visual system processes information in a parallel fashion. A single glimpse acquires a wealth of information; the eld of view for two eyes is 180° horizontally and 120° vertically (Mehr and Shindell, 1990). e spatial resolution in the central (foveal) part of the visual eld is approximately 0.5-1...

Background: Some individuals with balance-impairment have hypersensitivity of the motion-sensitive visual cortices (hMT+) compared to healthy controls. Previous work showed that electrical tongue stimulation can reduce the exaggerated postural sway induced by optic flow in this subject population and decrease the hypersensitive response of hMT+. Ad...

The Tongue Display Unit (TDU) is a 144-channel programmable pulse generator that delivers dc-balanced voltage pulses suitable for electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation of the anterior-dorsal tongue, through a matrix of surface electrodes. This article reviews the theory of operation and a design overview of the TDU, as well as selected appl...

Multivariate analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data allows investigations into network behavior beyond simple activations of individual regions. We apply group independent component analysis to fMRI data collected in a previous study looking at the sustained neuromodulatory effects of electrical tongue stimulation in balance-...

High-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be used to precisely identify blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) activation of small structures within the brainstem not accessible with standard fMRI. A previous study identified a region within the pons exhibiting sustained neuromodulation due to electrical tongue stimulation, but...

This pilot study aimed to show that information-free stimulation of the tongue can improve behavioral measures and induce sustained neuromodulation of the balance-processing network in individuals with balance dysfunction. Twelve balance-impaired subjects received one week of cranial nerve non-invasive neuromodulation (CN-NINM). Before and after th...

Due to its high sensitivity and conductivity, electrotactile stimulation (ETS) on the tongue has proven to be a useful and technically convenient tool to substitute and/or augment sensory capabilities. However, most of its applications have only provided spatial attributes and little is known about (a) the ability of the tongue's sensory system to...

This paper describes a high-performance transconductance amplifier specifically designed for electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation. It enables voltages up to +/-600 V to be produced at the output that will allow the psychophysiological performance associated with stimulation of the fingertip using various stimulation waveforms to be studied...

Cranial Nerve NonInvasive NeuroModulation (CN-NINM) is a primary and complementary multi-targeted rehabilitation therapy that appears to initiate the recovery of multiple damaged or suppressed brain functions affected by neurological disorders. It is deployable as a simple, home-based device (portable neuromodulation stimulator, or PoNSTM) and trai...

Sensory substitution systems provide their users with environmental information through a human sensory channel different from that normally used. For example, a person who is blind may use a long cane to detect obstacles while walking and Braille or raised-line graphics to read information normally received visually. A person who is deaf may read...

Electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation produces controlled, localized touch sensations at the location of a small stimulation electrode by passing a small electric current through the skin. The electric field thus generated in subcutaneous tissue directly excites the afferent nerve fibers responsible for touch sensations. The electrotactile...

Electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation produces controlled, localized touch sensations at the location of a small stimulation electrode by passing a small electric current through the skin. The electric field thus generated in subcutaneous tissue directly excites the afferent nerve fibers responsible for touch sensations. A number of factors...

Electrovibration is the tactile sensation of an alternating potential between the human body and a smooth conducing surface when the skin slides over the surface and where the current is too small to stimulate sensory nerves directly. It has been proposed as a high-density tactile display method, for example to display pictographic information to p...

A comparison of auditory and visual perception of scatterplots showed similar correlation estimation performance in both modalities. The present study replicated this experiment using electrotactile (electrocutaneous) presentation of scatterplots on the fingertips and abdomen, as well as visual presentation. The correlation estimation task resulted...

Two studies were conducted to determine the effect of stimulation current on pattern perception on a 49-point fingertip-scanned electrotactile (electrocutaneous) display. Performance increased monotonically from near chance levels at the lowest subthreshold current levels tested to approximately 90% at the highest comfortable current levels. This s...

We see with the brain, not the eyes (Bach-y-Rita, 1972); images that pass through our pupils go no further than the retina. From there image information travels to the rest of the brain by means of coded pulse trains, and the brain, being highly plastic, can learn to interpret them in visual terms. Perceptual levels of the brain interpret the spati...

The effect of stimulation waveform on pattern perception was investigated on a 49-point fingertip-scanned electrotactile (electrocutaneous) display. Waveform variables burst frequency (F), number of pulses per burst (NPB), and pulse repetition rate (PRR) were varied in a factorial design. Contrast reduction was used to limit performance of perceivi...

We present preliminary results from a pattern perception experiment using a finger-mounted, optical-to-tactile image conversion system. The system converts light patterns from a linear camera to a corresponding column of electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation on the palmer surface of the finger. Random presentations of four simple geometric...

Two modes of tactile communication have been previously explored-electrocutaneous and electrostatic. The electrostatic mode has the significant advantage of not passing electrical current into tissue to effect stimulation of afferent touch nerves. In previous research, we microfabricated electrostatic tactile displays on a 4-inch wafer using standa...

Electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation at currents greater than sensation threshold causes sensory adaptation, which temporarily raises the sensation threshold and reduces the perceived magnitude of stimulation. After 15 min of moderately intense exposure to a conditioning stimulus (10 s on, 10 s off), the sensation threshold elevation for s...

Electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation for sensory substitution and augmentation possesses a variety of sensory attributes, including intensity, pitch, and more qualitative factors relating to the degree of comfort or discomfort of the stimulus. This study examined the roles of electrode geometry (size and presence or absence of a coaxial gr...

The authors recorded action potentials from three RA fibers innervating primate fingerpad, while applying electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation. Negative pulses required 1.3-1.5 times more current than positive ones for entrainment. The strength-duration time constant was approximately 151 μs. Suprathreshold sinusoidal vibration synchronize...

An electrocutaneous tactile display was developed and built using modern microfabrication and lithographic techniques. Photosensitive polymers and ultra-thick photosensitive resists were used to fabricate closely spaced electrodes. Electrodes in the nine point array are spaced 2.4 mm (center-to-center), with 200 μm deep gaps between each electrode....

Form perception with the tongue was studied with a 49-point electrotactile array. Five sighted adult human subjects (3M/2F) each received 4 blocks of 12 tactile patterns, approximations of circles, squares, and vertex-up equilateral triangles, sized to 4x4, 5x5, 6x6, and 7x7 electrode arrays. Perception with electrical stimulation of the tongue is...

Six subjects participated in a study to determine their ability to identify simple geometric patterns on a 49-point fingertip-scanned electrotactile display and on an array of Braille-like raised dots. While the raised dot performance (97.2%) was better than the electrotactile performance (78.5%), this study represents the first successful demonstr...

A polyimide-on-silicon electrostatic fingertip tactile display has been fabricated and tested. The display consists of 49 electrodes arranged in a square array. Preliminary experiments using 200-600 V pulse excitation resulted in a moderate strength perception. The fingertip sensation is described as “sticky” or “buzzing”

This sweeping introduction to the science of virtual environment technology masterfully integrates research and practical applications culled from a range of disciplines, including psychology, engineering, and computer science. With contributions from the field's foremost researchers and theorists, the book focuses in particular on how virtual tech...

The average adult has approximately 2m2 of skin (Gibson, 1968), about 90% hairy, and remainder smooth or glabrous. Although the glabrous areas are more sensitive than the hairy, both types are highly innervated with sensory receptors and nerves (Sinclair, 1981). Tactile displays have utilized both glabrous and hairy skin, the type selected being re...

This paper presents the results of three surveys that compared the human's ability to detect and discriminate visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic information with current technical specifications of virtual environment equipment. The comparison exposes limitations of current virtual environment interfaces and thus indicates areas where impro...

Electrical stimulation of the sense of touch may be used to display pictorial information to blind computer users via a fingertip-scanned (haptic) touch tablet containing embedded electrodes. This might be particularly useful to users of systems with graphical user interfaces, or with drawing and layout software. Electrotactile (electrocutaneous) s...

A new method to measure the dynamic range of electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation uses both steepest ascent (gradient) and one-variable-at-a-time methods to determine the waveform variables that maximize the subjective magnitude (intensity) of the electrotactile percept at the maximal current without discomfort for balanced-biphasic pulse...

A general-purpose electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation system has been developed as a research tool for studying psychophysiological performance associated with various stimulation waveforms. An experimenter-defined command file specifies the stimulation current and waveform of each of the 16 channels. The system provides a burst onset del...

Sensory substitution systems provide their users with environmental information through a human sensory channel (eye, ear, or skin) different from that normally used or with the information processed in some useful way. The authors review the methods used to present visual, auditory, and modified tactile information to the skin and discuss present...

Typescript. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1991. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The sensation threshold current for electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation increases and decreases over time with a period of 3-10 min. The magnitude of these variations ranges from unmeasurably small to 25% of the average sensation threshold. The thresholds of two electrodes separated on the skin by 11 cm are loosely correlated in time. The...

Experimental results showing that the static skin-electrode resistance decreases nonlinearly with increasing stimulation current during electric stimulation of the sense of touch are reported. A mathematical model that describes the electrotactile skin-electrode interface is presented. The voltage versus time response of an electrode stimulation wi...

With an automated computerized temperature control and a specialized temperature measurement system, dry spores of Bacillus subtilis subsp. niger were treated with heat simultaneously in a convection dry-heat oven and a microwave oven. The temperature of the microwave oven was monitored such that the temperature profiles of the spore samples in bot...

We have developed a computer-controlled tactile vision-substitution system as part of a study to maximize the use of the skin's ability to process spatial and temporal information. The system receives a 128-column × 64-row image from a commercially available digital camera. An IBM personal computer sections the image into a controllable number of...

We present preliminary results from a pattern perception experiment using a finger-mounted , optical-to- tactile image conversion system. The system converts light patterns from a linear camera to a corresponding column of electrotactile (electrocutaneous) stimulation on the palmer surface of the finger. Random presentations of four simple geometri...

Typescript. Thesis (M.S)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 22).