Tactile perception full-cortical nerve imaging system and tactile perception full-cortical nerve imaging method

Abstract

The invention provides a tactile perception full cortex nerve imaging system and method. The tactile perception full cortex nerve imaging system comprises a central control module, a tactile stimulation module and a cortex imaging module. During use, the tactile stimulation module is arranged on the skin of the to-be-tested living body, it is ensured that the tactile stimulation module and the to-be-tested living body move at the same time without displacement when the to-be-tested living body is in a waking state, and tactile fixed-point stimulation of the to-be-tested living body in the waking state is achieved. The tactile stimulation module comprises a plurality of tactile stimulation channels and a plurality of tactile stimulation sites; the central control module performs gating control on the plurality of tactile stimulation channels based on a preset tactile stimulation position to obtain a selected tactile stimulation site, and transmits tactile stimulation current / voltage generated based on a preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameter to the tactile stimulation site corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation channel; the cortex imaging module collects activity information of single-cell neurons in a cortex multi-subbrain region of a living body to be detected during tactile stimulation, and obtains high-resolution full-cortex neural activity in real time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical fields of brain-computer interfaces for tactile stimulation of neurocognitive activities and the medical field, and particularly relates to a whole-cortex neuroimaging system and method for tactile perception. Background Art

[0002] As an important form of sensation, touch plays an important role in connecting an individual with the external environment. The tactile nervous system is responsible for converting external physical stimuli into nerve signals, which are processed and decoded through complex neural networks, thereby realizing the perception, response, and cognition of external stimuli. In recent years, the research on the coding mechanism, perception and prediction functions, and neural plasticity of the tactile nerve has gradually become a frontier field in neuroscience. These studies not only help to understand the neural basis of tactile perception but also provide theoretical support for the treatment of tactile-related diseases, the development of new neural interface technologies, and artificial intelligence systems.

[0003] Currently, certain progress has been made in the research on tactile stimulation systems for studying tactile nerve coding and neural plasticity. However, the existing research technologies still have limitations, and it is difficult to precisely apply tactile stimulation to experimental animals in a waking state and simultaneously obtain high-resolution whole-cortex neural activities in real time. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present invention provides a whole-cortex neuroimaging system and method for tactile perception, which are used to solve the defect that it is difficult to precisely apply tactile stimulation to experimental animals in a waking state in the prior art. The present invention can realize tactile stimulation of a living body to be measured in a waking state and can simultaneously obtain high-resolution whole-cortex neural activities in real time.

[0005] The present invention provides a whole-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception, including: a tactile stimulation module, which is used to be arranged on the skin of a living body to be measured during use; the living body to be measured is in a waking state; the tactile stimulation module includes a plurality of tactile stimulation channels and a plurality of tactile stimulation sites; the tactile stimulation sites are used to perform skin-contact current / voltage tactile stimulation on the living body to be measured, and each of the tactile stimulation channels is connected to a corresponding one of the tactile stimulation sites; a central control module, which is connected to the tactile stimulation channels and is used to perform gating control on the plurality of tactile stimulation channels based on a preset tactile stimulation position to obtain selected tactile stimulation sites and selected tactile stimulation channels, and transmit a tactile stimulation current / voltage generated based on preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters to the corresponding selected tactile stimulation channels and the selected tactile stimulation sites; the selected tactile stimulation sites are the tactile stimulation sites arranged at the tactile stimulation position, and the selected tactile stimulation channels are the tactile stimulation channels corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation sites; a cortex imaging module, which is used to collect activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the cortex of the living body to be measured during tactile stimulation.

[0006] A tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system provided by the present invention, wherein the central control module includes a main control module and an analog switch module; the analog switch module includes a plurality of analog switches; each analog switch is used to control the conduction of a plurality of the tactile stimulation channels; the main control module is used to determine a selected analog switch based on the selected tactile stimulation site and the selected tactile stimulation channel determined according to the preset tactile stimulation position, and control the selected analog switch to turn on the selected tactile stimulation channel.

[0007] A tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system provided by the present invention, wherein the central control module further includes a control expansion module; the main control module is used to generate a switch selection control command based on the selected tactile stimulation site and the selected tactile stimulation channel determined according to the preset tactile stimulation position, and send the switch selection control command to the control expansion module; the control expansion module is used to determine the selected analog switch based on the switch selection control command.

[0008] A tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system provided by the present invention, wherein the model of the main control module includes at least one of Arduino Mega 2560, Arduino Due, Teensy 4.1, STM32F407 and Discovery Kit, the model of the analog switch module includes at least one of CD74HC4067, PCF8574 and 74HC595, and the model of the control expansion module includes at least one of MCP23017 and 74HC4051.

[0009] A tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system provided by the present invention, wherein the central control module corresponds to 1-8 of the control expansion modules, each of the control expansion modules corresponds to 1-16 of the analog switch modules, and each of the analog switch modules corresponds to 1-16 of the tactile stimulation channels.

[0010] A tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system provided by the present invention, wherein the tactile stimulation module is a multi-channel tactile stimulation electrode; the multi-channel tactile stimulation electrode includes 1-2048 of the tactile stimulation channels and 1-2048 of the tactile stimulation sites.

[0011] A tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system provided by the present invention, wherein the tactile stimulation module further includes a ground electrode arranged around the tactile stimulation site, the ground electrode is in an arc ring shape, and the arc width dimension range is 100-1000 μm; the tactile stimulation site is a circular site, and the diameter dimension range of the circular site is 0.5-2 mm.

[0012] According to a whole-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception provided by the present invention, the time pulses of the central control module and the cortex imaging module are aligned.

[0013] According to a whole-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception provided by the present invention, it further includes an encoding module and a decoding module; the cortex imaging module is further configured to collect the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the living body to be measured before and after tactile stimulation; after the tactile stimulation is a preset time after the tactile moment; the encoding module is configured to determine a tactile stimulation encoding signal of the neuron for the tactile stimulation position when the number of times the neuron responds to the tactile stimulation position reaches a preset number, wherein the neuron responds to the tactile stimulation position when, according to the activity information obtained by the cortex imaging module, the average value of the neuron activity during the tactile stimulation is greater than the average value of the neuron activity before the tactile stimulation and the average value of the neuron activity after the tactile stimulation; the decoding module is configured to decode the tactile stimulation encoding signal based on a pre-trained neural network model to obtain the activity decoding information of the neuron for the tactile stimulation.

[0014] The present invention also provides a whole-cortex neuroimaging method for tactile perception, including: when in use, setting a tactile stimulation module on the skin of the living body to be measured; the living body to be measured is in a waking state; the tactile stimulation module includes a plurality of tactile stimulation channels and a plurality of tactile stimulation sites; the tactile stimulation sites are used to perform skin-contact current / voltage tactile stimulation on the living body to be measured, and each of the tactile stimulation channels is connected to the corresponding tactile stimulation site; through the central control module, based on a preset tactile stimulation position, gating control is performed on the plurality of tactile stimulation channels to obtain a selected tactile stimulation site and a selected tactile stimulation channel, and transmit a tactile stimulation current / voltage generated based on preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters to the selected tactile stimulation site corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation channel; the selected tactile stimulation site is a tactile stimulation site set at the tactile stimulation position, and the selected tactile stimulation channel is a tactile stimulation channel corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation site; the central control module is connected to the tactile stimulation channel; through the cortex imaging module, collect the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the living body to be measured during tactile stimulation.

[0015] A tactile perception-based whole-cortex neuroimaging system and method provided by the present invention. The system includes a central control module, a tactile stimulation module, and a cortex imaging module. During use, the tactile stimulation module is set on the skin of the living body to be tested. When the living body to be tested is in a waking state, it is ensured that the tactile stimulation module and the living body to be tested move simultaneously without displacement, so as to realize tactile fixed-point stimulation in the waking state of the living body to be tested. The tactile stimulation module includes a plurality of tactile stimulation channels and a plurality of tactile stimulation sites; the central control module performs gating control on the plurality of tactile stimulation channels based on a preset tactile stimulation position to obtain selected tactile stimulation sites and selected tactile stimulation channels, and transmits the tactile stimulation current / voltage generated based on the preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters to the selected tactile stimulation sites corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation channels; the cortex imaging module collects the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the living body to be tested during tactile stimulation, and obtains high-resolution whole-cortex nerve activity in real time. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0017] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of a tactile perception-based whole-cortex neuroimaging system provided by the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 It is a schematic principle diagram of a tactile perception-based whole-cortex neuroimaging system provided by the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of the tactile stimulation module provided by the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 It is a schematic flow diagram of a tactile perception-based whole-cortex neuroimaging method provided by the present invention.

[0021] REFERENCE SIGNS: 1: Tactile stimulation module; 2: Central control module; 3: Cortex imaging module; 21: Main control module; 22: Control expansion module; 23: Analog switch module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0022] To make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the following will clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are some, but not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments in the present invention without creative efforts fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0023] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 which is a schematic structural diagram of a tactile perception-based whole-cortex neuroimaging system provided by the present invention.

[0024] The present invention provides a tactile perception-based whole-cortex neuroimaging system, including a tactile stimulation module 1, which is configured to be disposed on the skin of a living body to be measured during use; the living body to be measured is in a waking state; the tactile stimulation module 1 includes a plurality of tactile stimulation channels and a plurality of tactile stimulation sites; the tactile stimulation sites are used to perform skin-contact current / voltage tactile stimulation on the living body to be measured, and each tactile stimulation channel is connected to a corresponding tactile stimulation site; a central control module 2, connected to the tactile stimulation channels, for performing gating control on the plurality of tactile stimulation channels based on a preset tactile stimulation position to obtain selected tactile stimulation sites and selected tactile stimulation channels, and transmitting the tactile stimulation current / voltage generated based on the preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters to the selected tactile stimulation sites corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation channels; the selected tactile stimulation sites are the tactile stimulation sites set at the tactile stimulation position, and the selected tactile stimulation channels are the tactile stimulation channels corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation sites; a cortex imaging module 3, for collecting the activity information of single-celled neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the living body to be measured during tactile stimulation.

[0025] To solve the technical problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a tactile perception-based whole-cortex neuroimaging system. This system can perform high-channel stimulation, adapt to diverse stimulation experiment requirements, be suitable for experimental animals in a waking and freely moving state, and can synchronously perform joint measurement of whole-cortex nerve single-cell imaging. It can be applied in the fields of tactile nerve coding and cognitive mechanism research and has important value.

[0026] Specifically, the tactile perception-based whole-cortex neuroimaging system is used to study the tactile perception nerve mechanism of a living body to be measured (such as an experimental animal mouse) in a waking state. This system includes a central control module 2, a tactile stimulation module 1, and a cortex imaging module 3. Each module works in coordination to achieve precise control of tactile stimulation and real-time monitoring of neuron activities.

[0027] The tactile stimulation module 1 includes, for example, 128 tactile stimulation channels, and each channel is connected to a tactile stimulation site. These tactile stimulation sites are distributed in an array, and the diameter of the circular site is 0.5 mm, which can accurately perform microcurrent / voltage stimulation on the skin of experimental animals. The tactile stimulation module 1 is designed as a flexible or rigid skin-attached type to ensure good contact with the skin of experimental animals, so as to achieve stable current / voltage transmission. When in use, the tactile stimulation module 1 can be attached to the back, abdomen, forelimbs and / or hind limbs of experimental animals. For example, select the tactile stimulation sites located on the skin of the forelimbs of experimental animals for stimulation. The tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters can be adjusted according to experimental requirements to study the effects of tactile stimulation with different intensities and frequencies on neuronal activities.

[0028] According to the tactile stimulation conditions designed in the experiment, a tactile stimulation experiment program is compiled, and this tactile stimulation experiment program is a digital signal recognizable by the central control module 2. The central control module 2 analyzes this digital signal to obtain the preset tactile stimulation position and the preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters. The central control module 2 can perform gating control on multiple tactile stimulation channels based on the preset tactile stimulation position to obtain the selected tactile stimulation sites and the selected tactile stimulation channels, and transmit the tactile stimulation current / voltage generated based on the preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters to the selected tactile stimulation sites corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation channels. The tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters can include the magnitude of the current / voltage, the stimulation frequency, and the stimulation duration. For example, the current magnitude is 100 μA, the stimulation frequency is 10 Hz, and the stimulation duration is 1 second. The central control module 2 can achieve closed-loop flexible adjustment of tactile stimulation.

[0029] The cortical imaging module 3 can adopt high-resolution calcium imaging technology to collect the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the cortex of experimental animals during tactile stimulation in real time. Through the fluorescent calcium indicator, the imaging module can monitor the change of calcium ion concentration in neurons, thereby indirectly reflecting the activity state of neurons. During the tactile stimulation process, the cortical imaging module 3 records information such as the action potential firing frequency, the firing time interval, and the change of calcium ion concentration of neurons.

[0030] By analyzing the data collected by the cortical imaging module 3, the response characteristics of neurons to tactile stimulation can be studied.

[0031] It can be understood that the system of the present invention can also obtain electrical energy by connecting to an external power source (such as a DC power adapter or a battery), and convert it into the required microcurrent / voltage signal through an internal circuit. The external power source can supply power to each functional module in the system.

[0032] Of course, an electrical energy regulator and a filtering circuit can also be set up to ensure the stability and accuracy of the microcurrent / voltage signal.

[0033] In a whole-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception, the attachment stability of electrodes is one of the key factors to ensure the accuracy and reliability of experimental data. Materials with high electrical conductivity, such as gold, platinum, or silver, can be selected, as these materials have good biocompatibility and chemical stability. Using a flexible substrate material (such as polyimide) can improve the attachment of the electrodes and reduce electrode displacement caused by animal movement. A medical glue (such as cyanoacrylate glue) is used to fix the electrodes to the skin of the experimental animal. This glue has good adhesion and biocompatibility. A conductive gel is used between the electrodes and the skin to improve the attachment and conductivity of the electrodes. Before attaching the electrodes, the skin of the experimental animal is cleaned with alcohol or saline to remove oil and dirt, improving the attachment of the electrodes. Ensure the skin is completely dry before attaching the electrodes to reduce the risk of electrode displacement.

[0034] Through the system of the present invention, the changes in neuronal activities of experimental animals under different tactile stimulation conditions can be clearly observed, providing an important tool for exploring the self-regulation and adaptation mechanisms of the nervous system, and having important scientific significance for understanding the processing process of tactile information and the plastic regulation of the nervous system. This system is not only applicable to basic neuroscience research, but can also be clinically applied to the research and development of fields such as neurorehabilitation and prosthetic tactile feedback systems, having broad application prospects. In this embodiment, through the precise control of tactile stimulation by the central control module 2 and the real-time monitoring of the cortical imaging module 3, the relationship between tactile stimulation and neuronal activities can be deeply studied, providing new methods and means for the research of tactile neural coding and cognitive mechanisms.

[0035] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 which is a schematic diagram of the principle of a whole-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception provided by the present invention.

[0036] As a preferred embodiment, the central control module 2 includes a main control module 21 and an analog switch module 23; the analog switch module 23 includes a plurality of analog switches; each analog switch is used to control the conduction of a plurality of tactile stimulation channels; the main control module 21 is used to determine the selected analog switch based on the selected tactile stimulation sites and selected tactile stimulation channels determined by the preset tactile stimulation positions, and control the selected analog switch to turn on the selected tactile stimulation channels.

[0037] In this embodiment, the whole-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception realizes precise control of the tactile stimulation channels through the central control module 2. The central control module 2 includes a main control module 21 and a analog switch module 23. The analog switch module 23 consists of multiple analog switches, and each analog switch can control the conduction states of several tactile stimulation channels. Through this design, the system can flexibly select and control the tactile stimulation channels to meet different experimental requirements.

[0038] The core of the central control module 2 is the main control module 21. An Arduino Mega 2560 development board can be used, which has powerful processing capabilities and rich I / O (Input / Output) interfaces. The analog switch module 23 consists of multiple CD74HC4067 analog switches, and each analog switch can control 16 tactile stimulation channels. The main control module 21 connects the control terminals (S0~S3) of all analog switch modules 23 in parallel through its I / O ports, so as to achieve precise control of each analog switch.

[0039] The main control module 21 determines the selected tactile stimulation sites and selected tactile stimulation channels based on the preset tactile stimulation positions, determines a specific analog switch to be selected, and controls the conduction states of several tactile stimulation channels through this analog switch. For example, assume that there are 8 analog switches in the system, each analog switch controls 16 tactile stimulation channels, for a total of 128 channels. If it is necessary to stimulate the 17th to 32nd tactile stimulation channels, the main control module 21 will select the 2nd analog switch and make it conductive through a control signal, so as to transmit the tactile stimulation current / voltage to the corresponding tactile stimulation channels.

[0040] Considering the port number limitation of the main control module 21, as a preferred embodiment, the central control module 2 further includes a control expansion module 22; the main control module 21 is used to generate a switch selection control command based on the selected tactile stimulation sites and selected tactile stimulation channels determined according to the preset tactile stimulation positions, and send the switch selection control command to the control expansion module 22; the control expansion module 22 is used to determine the selected analog switch based on the switch selection control command.

[0041] In this embodiment, the central control module 2 further includes a control expansion module 22. The control expansion module 22 can adopt an MCP23017 expansion board module, which can communicate with the main control module 21 through an IIC (Inter-Integrated Circuit) interface to expand the output capability of the main control module 21. The main control module 21 generates a switch selection control command based on the selected tactile stimulation site and the selected tactile stimulation channel determined according to the preset tactile stimulation position. The main control module 21 sends the switch selection control command to the control expansion module 22 through the IIC interface. After receiving the switch selection control command from the main control module 21, the control expansion module 22 parses the command and determines the analog switch to be turned on. For example, assume there are 8 analog switches in the system, each analog switch controls 16 tactile stimulation channels, for a total of 128 channels. If it is necessary to stimulate the 17th to 32nd tactile stimulation channels, the main control module 21 will generate a switch selection control command instructing the control expansion module 22 to select the 2nd analog switch. After parsing the command, the control expansion module 22 controls the on-state of the 2nd analog switch through its output terminal, thereby transmitting the tactile stimulation current / voltage to the corresponding tactile stimulation channel.

[0042] As a preferred embodiment, the model of the main control module 21 includes at least one of Arduino Mega 2560, Arduino Due, Teensy 4.1, STM32F407, and Discovery Kit, the model of the analog switch module 23 includes at least one of CD74HC4067, PCF8574, and 74HC595, and the model of the control expansion module 22 includes at least one of MCP23017 and 74HC4051.

[0043] In this embodiment, the specific model selection of the main control module 21, the control expansion module 22, and the analog switch module 23 provides flexibility and scalability for the system to adapt to different experimental requirements.

[0044] Among them, Arduino Mega 2560 is a powerful development board with 54 digital I / O interfaces and 16 analog input interfaces, which can meet the requirements of multi-channel tactile stimulation and data acquisition. It uses an ATmega2560 microcontroller with sufficient processing power to handle complex control tasks. In addition, Arduino Mega 2560 has a mature ecosystem, a large number of libraries and community support, which is convenient for development and debugging. It has high cost-effectiveness and a relatively low price, making it suitable for projects with limited budgets.

[0045] The MCP23017 is a 16-bit I²C interface expander that can expand multiple digital I / O interfaces through the I²C bus. It supports multiple communication protocols, facilitating communication with other devices. The MCP23017 features low power consumption and high reliability, making it suitable for projects with long-term operation. Additionally, it supports multiple operating modes and can be flexibly configured for input and output.

[0046] The CD74HC4067 is a 16-channel analog switch that can flexibly select and switch multiple channels. It has low on-resistance and low leakage current, ensuring high-fidelity signal transmission. The CD74HC4067 supports a wide voltage range and is suitable for various application scenarios. Moreover, it has a compact package size, making it suitable for high-density circuit designs.

[0047] The above-mentioned modules of other models also have similar advantages as described above, which are not elaborated in this invention.

[0048] As a preferred embodiment, the central control module 2 corresponds to 1 - 8 control expansion modules 22, each control expansion module 22 corresponds to 1 - 16 analog switch modules 23, and each analog switch module 23 corresponds to 1 - 16 tactile stimulation channels.

[0049] In this embodiment, the central control module 2 can control 1 - 8 MCP23017 expansion boards through the I²C port. The central control module 2 connects the S0 - S3 terminals of all CD74HC4067 analog switch modules 23 in parallel through the I / O port, thereby controlling the selection of a certain channel. The output terminal of the MCP23017 expansion board module is connected to the enable of the CD74HC4067 analog switch module 23. One expansion board module can control whether 1 - 16 CD74HC4067 analog switch modules 23 are enabled. The CD74HC4067 analog switch module 23 can control the selection of tactile stimulation channels at specific positions in multiple channels. One analog switch module 23 can control 1 - 16 tactile stimulation channels.

[0050] Please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 which is the structural schematic diagram of the tactile stimulation module 1 provided by the present invention.

[0051] As a preferred embodiment, the tactile stimulation module 1 is a multi-channel tactile stimulation electrode; the multi-channel tactile stimulation electrode includes 1 - 2048 tactile stimulation channels and 1 - 2048 tactile stimulation sites.

[0052] In this embodiment, the tactile stimulation module 1 is a multi-channel tactile stimulation electrode. The multi-channel tactile stimulation electrode includes 1 - 2048 tactile stimulation channels and 1 - 2048 tactile stimulation sites. The electrode design of this embodiment can achieve high-channel, high-density, and high-precision tactile stimulation.

[0053] As a preferred embodiment, the tactile stimulation module 1 further includes a ground electrode disposed around the tactile stimulation site. The ground electrode is in an arc shape, and the arc width ranges from 100 to 1000 μm. The tactile stimulation site is a circular site, and the diameter of the circular site ranges from 0.5 to 2 mm.

[0054] In this embodiment, the tactile stimulation module 1 not only includes multiple tactile stimulation sites, but also specially designs a ground electrode to improve the stability and accuracy of the stimulation. The tactile stimulation sites are circular, with a diameter ranging from 0.5 to 2 mm, preferably 0.5 mm. These circular sites are arranged in an array, capable of precisely performing microcurrent / voltage stimulation on the skin of experimental animals. A ground electrode is disposed around each tactile stimulation site. The ground electrode is in a 5 / 6 arc shape, and the arc width ranges from 100 to 1000 μm, preferably 76.2 μm. The design of the ground electrode can not only ensure the uniform distribution of current / voltage, but also reduce the leakage of current, improving the accuracy and safety of the stimulation. Corresponding to 128 tactile stimulation sites, there are 64 ground electrodes. This design not only improves the stability of the electrodes, but also reduces the mutual interference between the electrodes.

[0055] As a preferred embodiment, the time pulses of the central control module 2 and the cortical imaging module 3 are aligned.

[0056] To ensure a high spatio-temporal correlation between tactile stimulation and neuron activity monitoring, in this embodiment, the central control module 2 and the cortical imaging module 3 are precisely synchronized. Specifically, each time the tactile stimulation module 1 performs tactile stimulation, the central control module 2 emits a TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic) time pulse through the Tx port. Each time the cortical imaging module 3 acquires the activity information of single neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the cortex, it also emits a time pulse. By synchronously recording and aligning these clock pulses, they operate on the same time basis, ensuring an accurate correspondence in time between tactile stimulation and neuron activity monitoring.

[0057] As a preferred embodiment, it further includes an encoding module and a decoding module; the cortical imaging module 3 is further configured to collect the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the living body to be measured before and after tactile stimulation; after tactile stimulation is a preset time after the tactile moment; the encoding module is configured to determine the tactile stimulation encoding signal of the neuron to the tactile stimulation position when the number of times the neuron responds to the tactile stimulation position reaches a preset number, where the neuron responds to the tactile stimulation position means that according to the activity information obtained by the cortical imaging module 3, the average value of the neuron activity during the tactile stimulation is greater than the average value of the neuron activity before the tactile stimulation and the average value of the neuron activity after the tactile stimulation; the decoding module is configured to decode the tactile stimulation encoding signal based on a pre-trained neural network model to obtain the activity decoding information of the neuron for the tactile stimulation.

[0058] In this embodiment, the full-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception realizes the efficient encoding and decoding of tactile stimulation signals by introducing an encoding module and a decoding module. This design not only improves the system's response recognition ability to tactile stimulation but also provides strong support for in-depth research on the neural mechanism of tactile perception.

[0059] The cortical imaging module 3 can also collect the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the living body to be measured before and after tactile stimulation. Before tactile stimulation is before the tactile moment, and after tactile stimulation is a preset time after the tactile moment.

[0060] The main function of the encoding module is to determine the tactile stimulation encoding signal of the neuron to the tactile stimulation position when the number of times the neuron responds to the tactile stimulation position reaches a preset number. Specifically, the encoding module analyzes the neuron activity information collected by the cortical imaging module 3 to determine whether the neuron responds to the tactile stimulation. This determination is based on the following formula: , where, taking the tactile stimulation moment as the zero point, according to the time of applying the microcurrent / voltage, the neuron activity is divided into three time windows: before stimulation, during stimulation, and after stimulation. and respectively represent the activity intensities of the i th neuron during tactile stimulation, before tactile stimulation, and after tactile stimulation, and N is the total number of neurons. If the following conditions are met, it is determined that the neuron responds to the tactile stimulation at this position.

[0061] In addition, statistical analysis methods can also be used. For example, by calculating the number of times a neuron responds to the position of a tactile stimulus, if this number reaches a preset threshold (such as being greater than half of the total number of stimuli), it is considered that the neuron stably responds to the tactile stimulus at this position.

[0062] The main function of the decoding module is to decode the tactile stimulus encoding signal based on a pre-trained neural network model to obtain the decoded information on the activities of neurons in response to tactile stimuli. The pre-trained neural network model is trained with a large amount of experimental data and can identify and decode the relationship between neuron activity patterns and tactile stimuli.

[0063] Specifically, the decoding module receives the tactile stimulus encoding signal generated by the encoding module and analyzes it through the neural network model. The input of the neural network model is the activity information of neurons, and the output is parameters such as the position, intensity, and frequency of the tactile stimulus. When the decoding rate is greater than 0.6, the determination result is valid. In this way, the decoding module can extract information related to tactile stimuli from complex neuron activities, thereby achieving precise decoding of tactile stimuli.

[0064] The full-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception of the present invention can complete high-throughput, high-density electrical stimulation of tactile stimuli and imaging observations of calcium activities of neurons in the entire cortex in an awake experimental animal, providing a technical solution that can be widely applied in the field of tactile nerve perception research.

[0065] The full-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception of the present invention provides an important tool for exploring the self-regulation and adaptation mechanisms of the nervous system and has important scientific significance for understanding the processing process of tactile information and the plastic regulation of the nervous system.

[0066] Next, the full-cortex neuroimaging method for tactile perception provided by the present invention will be described. The full-cortex neuroimaging method for tactile perception described below can be mutually referred to in correspondence with the full-cortex neuroimaging system for tactile perception described above.

[0067] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 which is a schematic flowchart of a full-cortex neuroimaging method for tactile perception provided by the present invention.

[0068] The present invention also provides a full-cortex neuroimaging method for tactile perception, including: 401: When in use, set the tactile stimulus module 1 on the skin of the living body to be measured; the living body to be measured is in a waking state; the tactile stimulus module 1 includes a plurality of tactile stimulus channels and a plurality of tactile stimulus sites; the tactile stimulus sites are used to perform skin-contact current / voltage tactile stimulation on the living body to be measured, and each tactile stimulus channel is connected to the corresponding tactile stimulus site; 402: The central control module 2 performs gating control on multiple tactile stimulation channels based on a preset tactile stimulation position to obtain selected tactile stimulation sites and selected tactile stimulation channels, and transmits the tactile stimulation current / voltage generated based on the preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters to the selected tactile stimulation channels and the selected tactile stimulation sites; the selected tactile stimulation sites are the tactile stimulation sites set at the tactile stimulation position, and the selected tactile stimulation channels are the tactile stimulation channels corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation sites; the central control module 2 is connected to the tactile stimulation channels. 403: The cortical imaging module 3 collects the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the living body to be measured during tactile stimulation.

[0069] The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the modules can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment. Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand and implement it without creative efforts.

[0070] Through the description of the above embodiments, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that each embodiment can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course, it can also be implemented by hardware. Based on this understanding, the above technical solution, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art can be embodied in the form of a software product, which can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, such as ROM / RAM, magnetic disk, optical disk, etc., including several instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods described in each embodiment or some parts of the embodiments.

[0071] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions recorded in the foregoing embodiments, or perform equivalent replacements on some of the technical features; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A tactile perception-based whole-cortex neuroimaging system, characterized in that, Comprising: A tactile stimulation module, which is configured to be set on the skin of a living body to be tested during use; the living body to be tested is in a waking state; the tactile stimulation module includes a plurality of tactile stimulation channels and a plurality of tactile stimulation sites; the tactile stimulation sites are used to perform skin-contact current / voltage tactile stimulation on the living body to be tested, and each of the tactile stimulation channels is connected to a corresponding one of the tactile stimulation sites; A central control module, connected to the tactile stimulation channels, configured to perform gating control on the plurality of tactile stimulation channels based on a preset tactile stimulation position to obtain selected tactile stimulation sites and selected tactile stimulation channels, and transmit a tactile stimulation current / voltage generated based on preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters to the selected tactile stimulation sites corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation channels; the selected tactile stimulation sites are the tactile stimulation sites set at the tactile stimulation position, and the selected tactile stimulation channels are the tactile stimulation channels corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation sites; A cortical imaging module, configured to collect the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the living body to be tested during tactile stimulation.

2. The tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system according to claim 1, wherein The central control module includes a main control module and a multiplexer module; the multiplexer module includes a plurality of multiplexers; each multiplexer is used to control the conduction of a plurality of the tactile stimulation channels; The main control module is configured to determine a selected multiplexer based on the selected tactile stimulation sites and the selected tactile stimulation channels determined based on the preset tactile stimulation position, and control the selected multiplexer to turn on the selected tactile stimulation channels.

3. The tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system according to claim 2, wherein The central control module further includes a control expansion module; The main control module is configured to generate a switch selection control command based on the selected tactile stimulation sites and the selected tactile stimulation channels determined based on the preset tactile stimulation position, and send the switch selection control command to the control expansion module; The control expansion module is configured to determine the selected multiplexer based on the switch selection control command.

4. The tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system according to claim 3, characterized in that, The model of the main control module includes at least one of Arduino Mega 2560, Arduino Due, Teensy 4.1, STM32F407, and Discovery Kit, the model of the multiplexer module includes at least one of CD74HC4067, PCF8574, and 74HC595, and the model of the control expansion module includes at least one of MCP23017 and 74HC4051.

5. The tactile perception full-cortex neuroimaging system according to claim 3, wherein The central control module corresponds to 1 - 8 of the control expansion modules, each of the control expansion modules corresponds to 1 - 16 of the multiplexer modules, and each of the multiplexer modules corresponds to 1 - 16 of the tactile stimulation channels.

6. The tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system according to claim 1, wherein The tactile stimulation module is a multi-channel tactile stimulation electrode; the multi-channel tactile stimulation electrode includes 1 - 2048 of the tactile stimulation channels and 1 - 2048 of the tactile stimulation sites.

7. The tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system according to claim 1, wherein The tactile stimulation module further includes a ground electrode disposed around the tactile stimulation site. The ground electrode is in an arc ring shape, and the arc width dimension ranges from 100 to 1000 μm; the tactile stimulation site is a circular site, and the diameter dimension of the circular site ranges from 0.5 to 2 mm.

8. The tactile perception full cortex neuroimaging system according to claim 1, characterized in that The time pulses of the central control module and the cortical imaging module are aligned.

9. The tactile perception-based full-cortex neuroimaging system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that, It further includes an encoding module and a decoding module; The cortical imaging module is further configured to collect the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the to-be-tested living body before and after tactile stimulation; after tactile stimulation refers to a preset time after the tactile moment. The encoding module is configured to determine a tactile stimulation encoding signal of the neuron for the tactile stimulation position when the number of times the neuron responds to the tactile stimulation position reaches a preset number according to the activity information obtained by the cortical imaging module, where the neuron responds to the tactile stimulation position when the average value of the neuron activity during the tactile stimulation is greater than the average value of the neuron activity before the tactile stimulation and the average value of the neuron activity after the tactile stimulation according to the activity information obtained by the cortical imaging module. The decoding module is configured to decode the tactile stimulation encoding signal based on a pre-trained neural network model to obtain activity decoding information of the neuron for the tactile stimulation.

10. A whole-cortex neuroimaging method for tactile perception, characterized in that, It includes: When in use, the tactile stimulation module is set on the skin of the to-be-tested living body; the to-be-tested living body is in a waking state; the tactile stimulation module includes a plurality of tactile stimulation channels and a plurality of tactile stimulation sites; the tactile stimulation sites are used to perform skin-contact current / voltage tactile stimulation on the to-be-tested living body, and each of the tactile stimulation channels is connected to the corresponding tactile stimulation site; The central control module performs gating control on the plurality of tactile stimulation channels based on a preset tactile stimulation position to obtain a selected tactile stimulation site and a selected tactile stimulation channel, and transmits a tactile stimulation current / voltage generated based on preset tactile stimulation current / voltage parameters to the selected tactile stimulation site corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation channel; the selected tactile stimulation site is a tactile stimulation site set at the tactile stimulation position, and the selected tactile stimulation channel is a tactile stimulation channel corresponding to the selected tactile stimulation site; the central control module is connected to the tactile stimulation channel; The cortical imaging module collects the activity information of single-cell neurons in multiple sub-brain regions of the to-be-tested living body during tactile stimulation.

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