Neural feedback strategies to improve grasping coordination in neuromusculoskeletal prostheses
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 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.

Författare

Enzo Mastinu

Bionik

Center for Bionics and Pain Research

Leonard F. Engels

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (SSSUP)

F. Clemente

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (SSSUP)

Prensilia

Mariama Dione

Göteborgs universitet

Paolo Sassu

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Oskar C. Aszmann

Medizinische Universität Wien

Rickard Brånemark

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Göteborgs universitet

Bo Håkansson

Chalmers, Elektroteknik, Signalbehandling och medicinsk teknik

Marco Controzzi

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (SSSUP)

Johan Wessberg

Göteborgs universitet

C. Cipriani

Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (SSSUP)

Max Jair Ortiz Catalan

Bionik

Center for Bionics and Pain Research

Göteborgs universitet

Sahlgrenska universitetssjukhuset

Scientific Reports

2045-2322 (ISSN) 20452322 (eISSN)

Vol. 10 1 11793

Ämneskategorier

Annan medicinteknik

Fysiologi

Reglerteknik

DOI

10.1038/s41598-020-67985-5

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2021-11-24