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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 106-111 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2004 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Artificial sensibility
- Brain plasticity
- Cortical reorganisation
- Hand amputation
- Hand transplantation
- Nerve injury
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery
Cite this
Early use of artificial sensibility in hand transplantation. / Lanzetta, Marco; Perani, Daniela; Anchisi, Davide; Rosén, Birgitta; Danna, Massimo; Scifo, Paola; Fazio, Ferruccio; Lundborg, Göran.
In: Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery, Vol. 38, No. 2, 2004, p. 106-111.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Early use of artificial sensibility in hand transplantation
AU - Lanzetta, Marco
AU - Perani, Daniela
AU - Anchisi, Davide
AU - Rosén, Birgitta
AU - Danna, Massimo
AU - Scifo, Paola
AU - Fazio, Ferruccio
AU - Lundborg, Göran
PY - 2004
Y1 - 2004
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
KW - Artificial sensibility
KW - Brain plasticity
KW - Cortical reorganisation
KW - Hand amputation
KW - Hand transplantation
KW - Nerve injury
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=1942487399&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=1942487399&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/02844310310019860
DO - 10.1080/02844310310019860
M3 - Article
VL - 38
SP - 106
EP - 111
JO - Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery
JF - Scandinavian Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery
SN - 0284-4311
IS - 2
ER -