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Circulation, Vol 62, 1114-1118, Copyright © 1980 by American Heart Association

ARTICLES

Enhancement of tactile perception in palpation

D Smith and E Craige

We studied tactile perception in palpation of the precordium to determine the frequency response of the hand and to improve, if possible, the sensitivity of the hand as a transducer for precordial movement. The threshold of tactile sensation was determined for 10 subjects by manipulating the amplitude of movement of an impulse generator at each of a series of frequency settings in the subaudible range (1-40 Hz.) Relatively gross movements were necessary to achieve threshold in the lowest frequencies. A more than four-fold increase in sensitivity was obtained by restraining the fingers with the application of a light but unyielding disc to their dorsal surface. Clinical application of this device permitted the easy perception of a systolic thrust as well as a rapid filling wave in normal adult subjects over the right ventricle at the left sternal edge, an area generally considered to be motionless by conventional palpation.