| dc.description.abstract |
It has been hypothesized that, due to the potential to both provide a larger number
of independent control sites and selectively record from forearm muscles (in particular
the deep muscles), intramuscular EMG should be advantageous for multifunctional prosthesis
control [1].
The use of surface electromyograms (EMG) to control a multiple degree-of-freedom prosthesis
has been investigated for several decades. A variety of approaches have been employed
with groups using different numbers of input channels [2-3], feature extraction methods
[3-6] and pattern recognition algorithms [3,7-8]. While much work has been done, all
of these efforts have used surface EMG as the control signal. Only a single preliminary
study was found that acquired intramuscular EMG for prosthesis control [9].
Admittedly, the technology has not existed for chronic intramuscular recordings to
be clinically feasible for prosthetic use. The Implantable Myoelectric Sensor (IMES)
that is being developed at the Northwestern University Prosthetic Research Laboratory
will make chronic intramuscular recordings clinically feasible [10].
We hypothesize and hope to demonstrate that by utilizing intramuscular EMG it will
be possible to substantially increase classification accuracies of multifunctional
prosthesis controllers (i.e., increase the percentage of the time that the controller
can correctly predict the intended movement of the user). If a substantial increase
in classification accuracy is demonstrated, this will justify the invasiveness of
using these devices. However, if similar accuracies can be obtained from surface recordings
then there will be little justification for pursuing these devices for transradial
prosthesis control purposes.
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