Abstract
Although peripheral nerve stimulation using intraneural electrodes has been shown to be an effective and reliable solution to restore sensory feedback after hand loss, there have been no reports on the characterization of multi-channel stimulation. A deeper understanding of how the simultaneous stimulation of multiple electrode channels affects the evoked sensations should help in improving the definition of encoding strategies for bidirectional prostheses. We characterized the sensations evoked by simultaneous stimulation of median and ulnar nerves (multi-channel configuration) in four transradial amputees who had been implanted with four TIMEs (Transverse Intrafascicular Multichannel Electrodes). The results were compared with the characterization of single-channel stimulation. The sensations were characterized in terms of location, extent, type, and intensity. Combining two or more single-channel configurations caused a linear combination of the sensation locations and types perceived with such single-channel stimulations. Interestingly, this was also true when two active sites from the same nerve were stimulated. When stimulating in multi-channel configuration, the charge needed from each electrode channel to evoke a sensation was significantly lower than the one needed in single-channel configuration (sensory facilitation). This result was also supported by electroencephalography (EEG) recordings during nerve stimulation. Somatosensory potentials evoked by multi-channel stimulation confirmed that sensations in the amputated hand were perceived by the subjects and that a perceptual sensory facilitation occurred. Our results should help the future development of more efficient bidirectional prostheses by providing guidelines for the development of more complex stimulation approaches to effectively restore multiple sensations at the same time.
Highlights
Motor control[4,17,19], as well as the ability to recognize the shape and compliance of objects[7,15] or to simultaneously integrate position and tactile information[20,21]
We characterized the subjects’ rating of the stimulation of single active sites. 2-second trains of biphasic and charge-balanced current pulses were injected through the implanted TIME active sites
In order to find the perceptual thresholds for each active site (Materials and Methods), the pulse amplitude was modulated between 10 μA and 980 μA, whereas the pulse-width was fixed to between 20 μs and 120 μs
Summary
Motor control[4,17,19], as well as the ability to recognize the shape and compliance of objects[7,15] or to simultaneously integrate position and tactile information[20,21]. In these studies, the sensations evoked through electrical stimulation were characterized by stimulating single active sites (ASs). Sensory feedback was restored to the subjects by stimulating single ASs, as well as combinations of different ASs. Information regarding the location, perceptual threshold and type of these sensations was collected. Sensation properties were analyzed to characterize and compare single-channel (SCC), two-channel (DCC), and three-channel (TCC) stimulation configurations
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