For quantitative somatosenory testing with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) well defined and reproducible mechanical stimuli are required.Basically this can be achieved with pneumatic, electromagnetic and piecoceramic decives.Concerning MR-safety pneumatic stimulatiou devices are the first choice for the clinical arc.On other hand for research, sometimes amplitude and frequency controllable electromechanical devices are needed for selective stimulation of skin and muscle afferences.In this lecture a contact force controllable vibration device (VibroStim) to study cerebral responses evoked from afferences of the human foot sole, and a new cuff-type pneumatic stimulator (CuffStim) for somatosensory mapping of finger afferents are presented.VibroStim consists of two stationary moving magnet actuators with long non-metallic indentors to contact and vibrate the foot sole during the fMRI assessments.To allow independent settings of contact force (0-20N) and intensity of vibration the actuators are controlled by a digital servo loop (dSPACE, Germany).To avoid RF interferences double shielded cables were used.For safe operation in the MR room the actuators are fastened by adjustable stands, well behind the 5mT line.Current studies with vibrotactile stimuli showed activations in the contralateral pre-and postcentral gyrus as well as bilaterally in several adjacent areas.CuffStim is based on inflatable finger cuffs connected via a tube to a piezoceramic servo valve which allows pressure pulse rates up to 50 Hz.The distortions produced by the tube between cuff and valve were evaluated, showing that tube length is the main limiting factor to achieve a high pulse rate at the side of the cuff.CuffStim also was evaluated in stimulation studies, showing that random pulse protocols are advantageous to achieve stable activations in the sensorimotor cortex.Both devices provide a new tool for identifying cerebral structures that convey peripheral sensory information which is of promising diagnostic value.