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This paper presents the development and testing of a haptic interface compatible with a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) environment for neuroscience human motor control studies. A carbon fiber extension enables us to use the widely accepted and available haptic device Phantom 1.5. In the first part of the paper development of the mechanical extension together with its kinematic and dynamic models are presented. The second part is focused on testing of the extended haptic interface. The experiment's results both inside and outside the fMRI environment are presented. Tests outside a scanner have shown that the mechanical extension has no notable effect on a subject performance. Experiments with the scanner have confirmed electromagnetic compatibility of the extended haptic system. At the end it is concluded that the extended haptic device is fully compatible with the fMRI environment, and a virtual environment task that will allow neuroscientists to study a human motor control is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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