The neural prosthesis is an important aid that helps patients of physical disability to restore the functions of the limbs, so as to improve the quality of life. However, the motor control of the current prosthetic devices is still highly dependent on the visual feedback of the user, due to the lack of the perceptual feedback (tactile, proprioception, temperature, pain, etc.). Even through a long period of training, it is difficult for the user to achieve a fine and skillful manipulation of the prosthetic device, with a high rate of abandonment, or rejection of the device, especially, the prosthetic hands. Restoring sensory function for the prosthetic hand is essential and has become one of the major challenges in the field of the neurorehabilitation engineering and the medical robotics. Several neural technologies were developed to allow the restoration of the sensory ability, with sensory feedback technologies being applied to patients with the amputation and the spinal cord injury. A breakthrough of improvement in the functionality and the embodiment of the prosthetic hands is shown. This paper reviews the neural basis of the sensory function, the different types of neural technologies and their applications, as well as the latest developments in the sensory neural prosthesis technologies.

neural prosthetic hand  /  tactile sensory feedback  /  electrical stimulation