Artikel
Inducing a phantom hand map on the forearm of healthy subjects widens the possibilities for non-invasive sensory feedback in hand prostheses
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Autoren
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Ulrika Wijk
- Dept Translational Med - Hand Surgery, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden
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Pamela Svensson
- Dept Biomedical Engineering, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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Christian Antfolk
- Dept Biomedical Engineering, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
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Anders Björkman
- Dept Translational Med - Hand Surgery, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden
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Birgitta Rosén
- Dept Translational Med - Hand Surgery, Lund University, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden
| Veröffentlicht: | 6. Februar 2020 |
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Gliederung
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Objective: A drawback in currently available hand prostheses is the lack of sensory feedback. On the skin of the residual arm, a referred sensation of the lost hand and fingers are often evoked when touching the skin; a phantom hand map (PHM). This phenomenon is useful when integrating non-invasive sensory feedback systems into the socket of the prostheses. In this way, a somatotopically matched sensory feedback can be achieved. However, some amputees, especially those with congenital limb deficiency, do not experience a phantom hand map. The aim was to explore the possibility of inducing an association of referred sensation i.e. a feeling of touch of the fingers when the forearm was touched.
Materials and Methods: In this study 31 able-bodied individuals were equipped with a "tactile display", consisting of 5 servo motors. This provided the user with mechanotactile stimulus in a pseudo random order. Predefined pressure points, corresponding to the fingers, on the volar aspect of the forearm were stimulated during a structured training period of 2 weeks. Eighteen learning occasions comprised 4 sessions. follow-up after 1, 3 and 4 weeks.
Results: The agreement between the stimulated areas and the responses was high already from start with a distinct improvement up to the third training occasion after which Kappa score stabilized for the rest of the period. The score continued to show a high agreement on the second and third follow-up (Kappa=0.96).
Conclusions: It is possible to induce an association of a predefined phantom hand map on intact skin on the forearm after a structured training period of 2 weeks. The effect persisted after 2 weeks. These results may be of importance for the development of non-invasive sensory feedback systems in hand prostheses.
