Neural feedback strategies to improve grasping coordination in neuromusculoskeletal prostheses
Journal article, 2020
Conventional prosthetic arms suffer from poor controllability and lack of sensory feedback. Owing to the absence of tactile sensory information, prosthetic users must rely on incidental visual and auditory cues. In this study, we investigated the effect of providing tactile perception on motor coordination during routine grasping and grasping under uncertainty. Three transhumeral amputees were implanted with an osseointegrated percutaneous implant system for direct skeletal attachment and bidirectional communication with implanted neuromuscular electrodes. This neuromusculoskeletal prosthesis is a novel concept of artificial limb replacement that allows to extract control signals from electrodes implanted on viable muscle tissue, and to stimulate severed afferent nerve fibers to provide somatosensory feedback. Subjects received tactile feedback using three biologically inspired stimulation paradigms while performing a pick and lift test. The grasped object was instrumented to record grasping and lifting forces and its weight was either constant or unexpectedly changed in between trials. The results were also compared to the no-feedback control condition. Our findings confirm, in line with the neuroscientific literature, that somatosensory feedback is necessary for motor coordination during grasping. Our results also indicate that feedback is more relevant under uncertainty, and its effectiveness can be influenced by the selected neuromodulation paradigm and arguably also the prior experience of the prosthesis user.
Author
Enzo Mastinu
Bionic
Center for Bionics and Pain Research
Leonard F. Engels
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSUP)
F. Clemente
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSUP)
Prensilia
Mariama Dione
University of Gothenburg
Paolo Sassu
Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Oskar C. Aszmann
Medical University of Vienna
Rickard Brånemark
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
University of Gothenburg
Bo Håkansson
Chalmers, Electrical Engineering, Signal Processing and Biomedical Engineering
Marco Controzzi
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSUP)
Johan Wessberg
University of Gothenburg
C. Cipriani
Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (SSSUP)
Max Jair Ortiz Catalan
Bionic
Center for Bionics and Pain Research
University of Gothenburg
Sahlgrenska University Hospital
Scientific Reports
2045-2322 (ISSN) 20452322 (eISSN)
Vol. 10 1 11793Subject Categories
Other Medical Engineering
Physiology
Control Engineering
DOI
10.1038/s41598-020-67985-5