Evoking natural thermal perceptions using a thin-film thermoelectric device with high cooling power density and speed

Multimodal sensory feedback from upper-limb prostheses can increase their function and usability. Here we show that intuitive thermal perceptions during cold-object grasping with a prosthesis can be restored in a phantom hand through targeted nerve stimulation via a wearable thin-film thermoelectric...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Nature biomedical engineering Vol. 8; no. 8; pp. 1004 - 1017
Main Authors:	Osborn, Luke E., Venkatasubramanian, Rama, Himmtann, Meiyong, Moran, Courtney W., Pierce, Jonathan M., Gajendiran, Priya, Wormley, Jared M., Ung, Richard J., Nguyen, Harrison H., Crego, Adam C. G., Fifer, Matthew S., Armiger, Robert S.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	London Nature Publishing Group UK 01-08-2024 Nature Publishing Group
Subjects:	631/378/2620/2621 639/166/985 639/166/987 639/925/927 9/10 Adult Amputation Amputees Artificial Limbs Biomedical and Life Sciences Biomedical Engineering/Biotechnology Biomedicine Closed loops Cold Temperature Cooling Feedback, Sensory - physiology Female Grasping Hand Hand - physiology Humans Male Middle Aged Nerves Phantom Limb Prostheses Prosthetics Sensory feedback Stimulation Temperature perception Thermoelectric cooling Thermoelectric materials Thermosensing - physiology Thin films Touch Wearable Electronic Devices Wearable technology
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Summary:	Multimodal sensory feedback from upper-limb prostheses can increase their function and usability. Here we show that intuitive thermal perceptions during cold-object grasping with a prosthesis can be restored in a phantom hand through targeted nerve stimulation via a wearable thin-film thermoelectric device with high cooling power density and speed. We found that specific regions of the residual limb, when thermally stimulated, elicited thermal sensations in the phantom hand that remained stable beyond 48 weeks. We also found stimulation sites that selectively elicited sensations of temperature, touch or both, depending on whether the stimulation was thermal or mechanical. In closed-loop functional tasks involving the identification of cold objects by amputees and by non-amputee participants, and compared with traditional bulk thermoelectric devices, the wearable thin-film device reliably elicited cooling sensations that were up to 8 times faster and up to 3 times greater in intensity while using half the energy and 1/600 th the mass of active thermoelectric material. Wearable thin-film thermoelectric devices may allow for the non-invasive restoration of thermal perceptions during touch. Intuitive thermal perceptions during cold-object grasping with a prosthesis can be restored in a phantom hand through targeted nerve stimulation via a wearable thin-film thermoelectric device with high cooling power density and speed.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	2157-846X 2157-846X
DOI:	10.1038/s41551-023-01070-w