Abstract
One of the challenges facing prosthetic designers and engineers is to restore the missing sensory function inherit to hand amputation. Several different techniques can be employed to provide amputees with sensory feedback: sensory substitution methods where the recorded stimulus is not only transferred to the amputee, but also translated to a different modality (modality-matched feedback), which transfers the stimulus without translation and direct neural stimulation, which interacts directly with peripheral afferent nerves. This paper presents an overview of the principal works and devices employed to provide upper limb amputees with sensory feedback. The focus is on sensory substitution and modality matched feedback; the principal features, advantages and disadvantages of the different methods are presented.
Financial & competing interests disclosure
The work of the authors is supported by the Italian Ministry of Education University and Research under the FIRB-2010 MY-HAND Project [RBFR10VCLD], by the European Commission under the WAY project (FP7-ICT-228844), by the Swedish Research Council, the Crafoord foundation, the Promobilia foundation, and by the Skåne County Council Research and Development foundation. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.
No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.