New devices to deliver somatosensory stimuli during functional MRI

A new class of devices are described for improving investigation of somatosensory neuronal activation using fMRI. Dubbed magnetomechanical vibrotactile devices (MVDs), the principle of operation involves driving wire coils with small oscillatory currents in the large static magnetic field inherent to MRI scanners. The resulting Lorentz forces can be oriented to generate large vibrations that are easily converted to translational motions as …