Using Sensory Substitution of Median Sensory Deficits in the Traumatized Hand to Develop an Innovative Home-Based Hand Rehabilitation System

Post-traumatic median nerve sensitive deficits are frequent. They are a source of permanent handicap that dramatically decreases the level of autonomy and the quality of life of persons suffering from these deficits. Surgical repair is possible, but the results are not always functionally useful. Therefore, prosthetic approaches do represent an alternative solution that needs to be explored. Along these lines, this paper describes an innovative homebased hand rehabilitation system device that exploits sensory substitution of median sensory deficits in the traumatized hand. It is composed of a glove bearing smart textile pressure sensors and a wristband providing vibratory biofeedback to the user. The goal of this sensory-substitution system is to provide for patients an effective method to compensate the lack of sensitivity of the finger pads and to recover a functional hand use. This innovative system is intended to be employed for assessment, training and rehabilitation exercises at