Center for Bionics and Pain Research, Mölndal, Sweden.
Department of Electrical Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Sci Rep. 2023 Apr 17;13(1):6260. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-33210-2.
Residual limbs after amputation present colder temperatures than unaffected contralateral limbs. This temperature asymmetry has been attributed to autonomic and cognitive factors, such as changes in body representation. An ideal limb replacement should restore the body representation and resolve the temperature asymmetry, but conventional prostheses, commonly characterized as disembodied, fail to do so. Neuromusculoskeletal prostheses are a new concept of artificial limbs that directly interface with the user's nerves, muscles, and skeleton, and are operated in daily life by bidirectionally transferring control and somatosensory information. Here, we show that the temperature asymmetry commonly found in people with amputations is resolved when using a neuromusculoskeletal prosthesis but reappears when it is removed. A potential explanation for this phenomenon might be the increased embodiment reported by users of neuromusculoskeletal prostheses, which in turn would suggest unconscious perceptual mechanisms mediating the temperature asymmetry commonly found between intact and residual limbs after amputation.
截肢后的残肢比未受影响的对侧肢体温度更低。这种温度不对称性归因于自主和认知因素，例如身体表象的变化。理想的肢体替代物应该恢复身体表象并解决温度不对称问题，但传统的假肢通常被认为是没有生命的，无法做到这一点。神经肌肉骨骼假肢是一种新型的人工肢体，它直接与用户的神经、肌肉和骨骼接口，并通过双向传递控制和感觉信息在日常生活中运行。在这里，我们表明，当使用神经肌肉骨骼假肢时，截肢者常见的温度不对称问题得到了解决，但当假肢被移除时，这种温度不对称问题又再次出现。这种现象的一个可能解释是神经肌肉骨骼假肢使用者报告的身体感知增强，这反过来又表明，无意识的感知机制在介导截肢后完整肢体和残肢之间常见的温度不对称方面发挥了作用。
