Enhanced haptic device compatible with fMRI environment

Paper presents an upgrade of a Phantom Premium 1.5 haptic device for use within a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) environment. A mechanical extension attached to the Phantom allows the haptic device to operate at a safe distance away from a high-density magnetic field of an fMRI scanner. The extended haptic system was subjected to a series of tests to confirm electromagnetic compatibility with the fMRI environment, for which key results are presented. With the extended fMRI compatible haptic platform a human brain activation during controlled upper limb movements can be studied. A virtual environment reaching task was programmed to study brain motor control functions. At the end of the paper a preliminary results of an ongoing neurophysiological study are presented.