Peripheral Neural Interfaces (PNIs) for Decoding Motor Intentions and Encoding Somatosensations in Upper-Limb Amputees

Somatosensory neuroprostheses have recently been developed for restoring sensorimotor functions in people with limb amputations. Such prostheses hold great potential to improve the amputees' abilities and quality of life. These devices have exploited recent advancements of implantable technology. In particular, peripheral neural interface (PNI) has been shown as an effective solution to enable a connection between the nervous system and the artificial limbs. The intimate contact between neural electrodes and the nerves allows (i) recording of the neural activity related to motor intentions (e.g., hand movements) and (ii) to stimulate the sensory fibers eliciting somatotopic sensations (e.g., sensation referred directly on the phantom limb). The recent implementation of the PNI is in a bidirectional configuration (e.g., closed-loop control), which enables amputee to naturally control the bionic hand and to simultaneously perceive sensory information related to the interactions between the prosthesis and the environment. Research groups have shown that the restoration of a more advanced sensorimotor control is possible, thanks to a natural control and a real-time sensory feedback, and could enhance prosthesis's embodiment, functional performance, and daily use.