Benoit Delhaye

Principal Investigator

Previously: PhD Student · 2009–2014 · supervised by Jean-Louis Thonnard and Philippe Lefèvre

Previously: Post-Doc · 2014–2018 · at University of Chicago, USA · supervised by Sliman Bensmaia

Previously: Post-Doc · 2018–2023 · supervised by Philippe Lefèvre

Supervises

I am a FNRS research associate at the Université catholique de Louvain (Belgium).

My research aims at understanding how tactile receptors and their associated nerve fibers encode information about contacted objects, and how the brain uses these signals to guide dexterous manipulation. Approaches include precise measurements of the skin response during object interactions, analysis and modeling of tactile afferent responses, and quantification of sensory outcomes. An important component of my work is the application of these insights towards the development of algorithms to electrically stimulate the nerve to restore somatosensory feedback in bionic hands.

I graduated as an Electro-mechanical engineer from Université catholique de Louvain (BS 2007, MS 2009) and I received a PhD in applied science (2014) from the same university for my work entitled "Skin mechanics involved in dynamic touch", this work was co-supervised by Jean-Louis Thonnard and Philippe Lefèvre. During 2015-2018, I was a Post-Doctoral scholar at the University of Chicago, working with Sliman Bensmaia. During Sept 2018-Sept 2023, I was a FSR and then an FRS-F.N.R.S Postdoctoral Fellow at UCLouvain, working with Philippe Lefèvre.

Supervised in the lab

Current (8)

Donatien Doumont · PhD Student (since 2021) · co-supervisor (main supervisor: Philippe Lefèvre)
Guillaume Duprez · PhD Student (2021–2026), Post-Doc (since 2026) · co-supervisor (main supervisor: Laurent Delannay)
Artem Dobrosmyslov · PhD Student (since 2024) · co-supervisor (main supervisor: André Mouraux)
Louis Lovat · PhD Student (since 2024) · main supervisor (with André Mouraux)
Zhaochong Cai · Post-Doc (since 2025) · supervisor
Viktoriia Kozadaeva · PhD Student (since 2025) · supervisor
Gabriela Ishikawa · PhD Student (since 2026) · main supervisor (with Greet Kerckhofs)
Sofia Nicolussi · PhD Student (since 2026) · co-supervisor (main supervisor: Philippe Lefèvre)

Benoit's publications:

2020

[13] Ozdamar I, Alipour MR, Delhaye BP, Lefevre P, Basdogan C (2020)
Step-Change in Friction Under Electrovibration.
IEEE Transactions on Haptics 13(1):137-143

2019

[12] Delhaye BP, Xia X, Bensmaia SJ (2019)
Rapid geometric feature signaling in the simulated spiking activity of a complete population of tactile nerve fibers.
Journal of Neurophysiology 121(6):2071-2082
[11] Delhaye BP, O'Donnell MK, Lieber JD, McLellan KR, Bensmaia SJ (2019)
Feeling fooled: Texture contaminates the neural code for tactile speed.
PLOS Biology 17(8):e3000431

2018

[10] Delhaye BP, Long KH, Bensmaia SJ (2018)
Neural Basis of Touch and Proprioception in Primate Cortex.
Comprehensive Physiology :1575-1602
[9] Barrea A, Delhaye BP, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2018)
Perception of partial slips under tangential loading of the fingertip.
Scientific Reports 8(1)
[8] Graczyk EL, Delhaye BP, Schiefer MA, Bensmaia SJ, Tyler DJ (2018)
Sensory adaptation to electrical stimulation of the somatosensory nerves.
Journal of Neural Engineering 15(4):046002

2017

[7] Saal HP, Delhaye BP, Rayhaun BC, Bensmaia SJ (2017)
Simulating tactile signals from the whole hand with millisecond precision.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 114(28)

2016

[6] Delhaye BP, Saal HP, Bensmaia SJ (2016)
Key considerations in designing a somatosensory neuroprosthesis.
Journal of Physiology-Paris 110(4):402-408
[5] Delhaye B, Barrea A, Edin BB, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2016)
Surface strain measurements of fingertip skin under shearing.
Journal of The Royal Society Interface 13(115):20150874
[4] Delhaye BP, Schluter EW, Bensmaia SJ (2016)
Robo-Psychophysics: Extracting Behaviorally Relevant Features from the Output of Sensors on a Prosthetic Finger.
IEEE Transactions on Haptics 9(4):499-507
[3] Graczyk EL, Schiefer MA, Saal HP, Delhaye BP, Bensmaia SJ, Tyler DJ (2016)
The neural basis of perceived intensity in natural and artificial touch.
Science Translational Medicine 8(362)

2014

[2] Delhaye B, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2014)
Dynamics of fingertip contact during the onset of tangential slip.
Journal of The Royal Society Interface 11(100):20140698

2012

[1] Delhaye B, Hayward V, Lefèvre P, Thonnard JL (2012)
Texture-induced vibrations in the forearm during tactile exploration.
Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 6

Office: Euler a.118 (1st floor)

Phone: +32 10 47 80 03

e-mail: benoit.delhaye@uclouvain.be

Links:

Benoit Delhaye

Supervised in the lab

Current (8)

Benoit's publications:

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021