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Early use of artificial sensibility in hand transplantation

Lanzetta, M ; Perani, D ; Anchisi, D ; Rosén, Birgitta LU ; Danna, M ; Scifo, P ; Fazio, F and Lundborg, Göran LU (2004) In Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery 38(2). p.106-111
Abstract
Hands were transplanted from brain-dead donors for the treatment of two male unilateral amputees, aged 35 years and 32 years, involved in the Italian Hand Transplantation Programme. Each had lost his right dominant hand, in a farming accident and an explosion, respectively. In one case artificial sensibility was applied postoperatively using a Sensor Glove that transformed vibrotactile stimuli induced by touch, to stereophonic vibroacoustic stimuli perceived through earphones. The principle is based on the brain's capacity for multimodal plasticity, implying that deprivation of one sense (somatosensory) can be compensated for by another sense (auditory). Functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) taken at regular intervals showed that... (More)
Hands were transplanted from brain-dead donors for the treatment of two male unilateral amputees, aged 35 years and 32 years, involved in the Italian Hand Transplantation Programme. Each had lost his right dominant hand, in a farming accident and an explosion, respectively. In one case artificial sensibility was applied postoperatively using a Sensor Glove that transformed vibrotactile stimuli induced by touch, to stereophonic vibroacoustic stimuli perceived through earphones. The principle is based on the brain's capacity for multimodal plasticity, implying that deprivation of one sense (somatosensory) can be compensated for by another sense (auditory). Functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) taken at regular intervals showed that cortical remodelling of the transplanted hand within the sensory-motor maps occurred early in the patient who used the artificial sensibility regimen compared with the one who did not. We conclude that postoperative use of a device using hearing as a substitution for sensation in hand transplantation may have considerable potential value for speeding up cortical integration of a transplanted hand. (Less)
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author
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
injury, nerve, artificial sensibility, hand transplantation, hand amputation, brain plasticity, cortical reorganisation
in
Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery
volume
38
issue
2
pages
106 - 111
publisher
Taylor & Francis
external identifiers
  • wos:000220407500006
  • pmid:15202668
  • scopus:1942487399
ISSN
1651-2073
DOI
10.1080/02844310310019860
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
aaa48564-b05b-4ebb-ba27-fd7651f57cea (old id 283151)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:45:58
date last changed
2022-02-05 18:26:26
@article{aaa48564-b05b-4ebb-ba27-fd7651f57cea,
  abstract     = {{Hands were transplanted from brain-dead donors for the treatment of two male unilateral amputees, aged 35 years and 32 years, involved in the Italian Hand Transplantation Programme. Each had lost his right dominant hand, in a farming accident and an explosion, respectively. In one case artificial sensibility was applied postoperatively using a Sensor Glove that transformed vibrotactile stimuli induced by touch, to stereophonic vibroacoustic stimuli perceived through earphones. The principle is based on the brain's capacity for multimodal plasticity, implying that deprivation of one sense (somatosensory) can be compensated for by another sense (auditory). Functional magnetic resonance images (fMRI) taken at regular intervals showed that cortical remodelling of the transplanted hand within the sensory-motor maps occurred early in the patient who used the artificial sensibility regimen compared with the one who did not. We conclude that postoperative use of a device using hearing as a substitution for sensation in hand transplantation may have considerable potential value for speeding up cortical integration of a transplanted hand.}},
  author       = {{Lanzetta, M and Perani, D and Anchisi, D and Rosén, Birgitta and Danna, M and Scifo, P and Fazio, F and Lundborg, Göran}},
  issn         = {{1651-2073}},
  keywords     = {{injury; nerve; artificial sensibility; hand transplantation; hand amputation; brain plasticity; cortical reorganisation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{106--111}},
  publisher    = {{Taylor & Francis}},
  series       = {{Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery}},
  title        = {{Early use of artificial sensibility in hand transplantation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02844310310019860}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/02844310310019860}},
  volume       = {{38}},
  year         = {{2004}},
}