This invention relates to a system and methods for relieving phantomlimb
pain in amputees, and for providing an amputee with sensory feedback from
a prosthetic limb. The system employs implantable multichannel,
multi-chambered interface structures, namely, nerve cuffs. The implanted
nerve cuffs have electrodes which transmit electrical signals generated
by a signal generator to nerves, recruiting certain neurons to send
sensory signals to the cerebral cortex, suggesting sensory sensations to
the amputee. Such signals can arise directly from the signal generator,
approximating the train of signals seen by the cortex in a normally
innervated limb, or can originate from sensors in a prosthetic limb.