title: Intraneural stimulation elicits discrimination of textural features by artificial fingertip in intact and amputee humans.
abstract: Restoration of touch after hand amputation is a desirable feature of ideal prostheses. Here, we show that texture discrimination can be artificially provided in human subjects by implementing a neuromorphic real-time mechano-neuro-transduction (MNT), which emulates to some extent the firing dynamics of SA1 cutaneous afferents. The MNT process was used to modulate the temporal pattern of electrical spikes delivered to the human median nerve via percutaneous microstimulation in four intact subjects and via implanted intrafascicular stimulation in one transradial amputee. Both approaches allowed the subjects to reliably discriminate spatial coarseness of surfaces as confirmed also by a hybrid neural model of the median nerve. Moreover, MNT-evoked EEG activity showed physiologically plausible responses that were superimposable in time and topography to the ones elicited by a natural mechanical tactile stimulation. These findings can open up novel opportunities for sensory restoration in the next generation of neuro-prosthetic hands.
authors.affiliation: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Calogero Maria
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1489-5701
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Oddo
authors.affiliation: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.|Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Translational NeuroEngineering, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Stanisa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raspopovic
authors.affiliation: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.|Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Translational NeuroEngineering, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fiorenzo
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Artoni
authors.affiliation: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mazzoni
authors.affiliation: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giacomo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spigler
authors.affiliation: Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Translational NeuroEngineering, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Laboratory of Biomedical Robotics & Biomicrosystems, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Roma, Italy.|Brain Connectivity Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Petrini
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurology, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giambattistelli
authors.affiliation: Brain Connectivity Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vecchio
authors.affiliation: Brain Connectivity Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Miraglia
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Robotics & Biomicrosystems, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Loredana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zollo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Robotics & Biomicrosystems, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Roma, Italy.|Institute of Neurology, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Pino
authors.affiliation: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Camboni
authors.affiliation: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Chiara
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Carrozza
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biomedical Robotics & Biomicrosystems, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Eugenio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guglielmelli
authors.affiliation: Brain Connectivity Laboratory, IRCCS San Raffaele Pisana, Roma, Italy.|Institute of Neurology, Catholic University of The Sacred Heart, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Paolo Maria
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Rossini
authors.affiliation: Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy.|IRCCS Stella Maris Foundation, Pisa, Italy.|Dipartimento di Ricerca Traslazionale e delle Nuove Tecnologie in Medicina e Chirurgia, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Ugo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Faraguna
authors.affiliation: The BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Pisa, Italy.|Center for Neuroprosthetics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Bertarelli Foundation Chair in Translational NeuroEngineering, Institute of Bioengineering, School of Engineering, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Silvestro
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4396-8217
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Micera
mesh_terms: D000674:Amputees; D001187:Artificial Organs; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006801:Humans; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D019736:Prostheses and Implants; D014110:Touch
keywords: artificial touch; hand neuroprosthetics; human; intraneural stimulation; neuromorphic stimuli; neuroscience; tactile code; touch restoration