Application of radio-finger augmented devices to cognitive neural remapping

Finger-Augmented Devices having wireless connectivity based on battery-less backscattering (RFID-FAD) are useful assistive tools for subjects suffering from Hypoesthesia. This work presents an optimized R-FAD system consisting of a conformal sensor-tag sized for the fingertip and a wrist-mounted module (antenna+reader) that powers the on-chip finger sensor, collect the data transmitted back and convert them into acoustic feedback. Beyond the use as a disability aid, the R-FAD system is here applied, for the first time, in the context of cognitive neuroscience, to investigate if the loss of physical perception of the warmth could affect also the abstract/mental representation of the temperature, as claimed by the grounded theories. Preliminary tests, involving both control healthy subjects and a deafferented patient, corroborate this theory and, above all, suggest that the training with the R-FAD system, providing a 'transduced' thermal sensitivity, may play a role in the cognitive re-mapping of the thermal perception