SmartHand tactile display: a new concept for providing sensory feedback in hand prostheses

A major drawback with myoelectric prostheses is that they do not provide the user with sensory feedback. Using a new principle for sensory feedback, we did a series of experiments involving 11 healthy subjects. The skin on the volar aspect of the forearm was used as the target area for sensory input. Experiments included discrimination of site of stimuli and pressure levels at a single stimulation point. A tactile display based on digital servomotors with one actuating element for each of the five fingers was used as a stimulator on the forearm. The results show that the participants were able to discriminate between three fingers with an accuracy of 97%, between five fingers with an accuracy of 82%, and between five levels with an accuracy of 79%. The tactile display may prove a helpful tool in providing amputees with sensory feedback from a prosthetic hand by transferring tactile stimuli from the prosthetic hand to the skin at forearm level.