The Bulbous corpuscle or Ruffini ending or Ruffini corpuscle is a class of slowly adapting mechanoreceptor

Mechanoreceptor

A mechanoreceptor is a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. There are four main types in the glabrous skin of humans: Pacinian corpuscles, Meissner's corpuscles, Merkel's discs, and Ruffini corpuscles...

 thought to exist only in the glabrous dermis and subcutaneous tissue

Subcutaneous tissue

The hypodermis, also called the hypoderm, subcutaneous tissue, or superficial fascia is the lowermost layer of the integumentary system in vertebrates. Types of cells that are found in the hypodermis are fibroblasts, adipose cells, and macrophages...

 of humans. It is named after Angelo Ruffini

Angelo Ruffini

Angelo Ruffini was an Italian histologist and embryologist.He studied medicine at the University of Bologna, where beginning in 1894 he taught classes in histology...

.

Function

This spindle-shaped receptor is sensitive to skin stretch, and contributes to the kinesthetic sense of and control of finger position and movement. It is believed to be useful for monitoring slippage of objects along the surface of the skin, allowing modulation of grip on an object.

Ruffini endings are located in the deep layers of the skin, and register mechanical deformation within joints, more specifically angle change, with a specificity of up to 2 degrees, as well as continuous pressure states.They also act as a thermoreceptors that respond for a long time, so in case of deep burn there will be no pain as these receptors will be burned off.