The Long-term Functionality of a Haptic Sensory Feedback System with an Intrafascicular Nerve Interface

Authors

Sathyakumar S. Kuntaegowdanahalli, Florida International UniversityFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Biomedical Engineering

First Advisor's Name

Ranu Jung

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

James J. Abbas

Second Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Kenneth W. Horch

Third Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Jacob McPherson

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Fifth Advisor's Name

Zachary Danziger

Fifth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Sixth Advisor's Name

Eliza L. Nelson

Sixth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Keywords

neurotechnology, sensory feedback, haptic, neural stimulation, LIFE, intrafascicular, upper-limb amputee, sensory restoration

Date of Defense

11-8-2022

Abstract

Current state-of-the-art upper-limb hand prostheses lack the ability to provide sensation to the user and hence are not adequate replacements for the human hand. Absence of sensation increases attentional demands thereby reducing satisfaction and increasing abandonment. Direct electrical stimulation of sensory afferents in the residual nerves has been shown to elicit haptic percepts, in the phantom hand, which are easily understood by the user and help improve prosthesis control. These findings support the goal of developing a sensory-enabled prosthetic hand with a fully implantable stimulator linked to neural electrodes to restore lost sensory function. Identification of neural electrode interfaces that can elicit percepts with stable location and quality, assessment of the long-term utility of a haptic sensory feedback system delivering focal stimulation, and development of methods to determine stimulation parameters that can elicit percepts that are intuitively interpreted by the user to effectively control the prosthesis are gaps that need to be addressed.

The long-term impact of using longitudinal intrafascicular electrodes (LIFEs) for providing targeted sensory feedback was investigated in a case study conducted over 31 months with a human participant fitted with a neural-enabled prosthesis that included an implantable stimulator with LIFEs. Tests assessing stability of electrodes by tracking the impedance, threshold-charge levels, and location and quality of percepts showed that LIFEs can form a stable interface with neural tissue and elicit haptic percepts of stable location and quality. Standard psychophysical tests and other functional assessments used to evaluate the long-term utility of a sensory-enabled prosthesis with intrafascicular electrodes showed that sensory feedback improved prosthesis control and performance in functional tasks. This is the first study that has investigated the long-term functionality of LIFEs. Findings from this study support the use of LIFEs in building the next generation of sensory enabled upper-limb prostheses.

A surface stimulation technique was utilized to develop a novel Stimulus Optimization for Neural Excitation (SONET) framework to guide the selection of stimulation parameters for effective modulation of percept intensity with direct nerve stimulation. The developed framework has the potential to reduce fitting times and improve clinical effectiveness of neural stimulation devices for sensory feedback applications.

Identifier

FIDC010892

ORCID

0000-0002-4130-2561

Recommended Citation

Kuntaegowdanahalli, Sathyakumar S., "The Long-term Functionality of a Haptic Sensory Feedback System with an Intrafascicular Nerve Interface" (2022). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 5180.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/5180