Discriminability of multiple cutaneous and proprioceptive hand percepts evoked by intraneural stimulation with Utah slanted electrode arrays in human amputees.
David M Page, Jacob A George, Suzanne M Wendelken and 4 others
PMID 33478534WHAT IT FOUND
Three amputees with nerve implants identified different hand sensations in blind trials.
They distinguished location, quality, and intensity, including proprioceptive signals. This confirms intraneural electrodes can deliver discriminable sensory feedback, a prerequisite for functional bionic arms.
Key findings
01Subjects discriminated among multiple stimulation conditions evoking different hand locations, qualities, and intensities with performance significantly greater than chance.
02One subject successfully discriminated between seven combined proprioceptive location and intensity conditions, identifying the correct digit movement and joint position.
03Interleaved stimulation of two electrodes reproduced individual sensations without the emergent 'massage' feeling caused by simultaneous stimulation current summation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study included only three participants, limiting generalisability. Implant duration was short (4 to 13 weeks), so long-term stability of sensory percepts was not tested. Subjects S4 and S5 experienced infections at the percutaneous wire site, though they resolved. Statistical power was limited for individual condition analyses, and cross-session comparisons were not performed due to percept variability. Intensity discrimination for S5 was not statistically significant when the 'no stimulation' condition was removed in post-hoc analysis (p = 0.08).
Declared interests
Funding provided by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, National Institutes of Health, and National Science Foundation. No specific commercial conflicts of interest declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this sensory feedback is currently available for clinical use. The implants were removed after a maximum of 13 weeks, and two subjects developed infections requiring extraction. This is an early-stage research demonstration, not a tested intervention for routine prosthetic care.