Real-Time Control of a Multi-Degree-of-Freedom Mirror Myoelectric Interface During Functional Task Training

Andrea Sarasola-Sanz, Eduardo López-Larraz, Nerea Irastorza-Landa, Giulia Rossi, Thiago Figueiredo, Joseph McIntyre, Ander Ramos-Murguialday

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5 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

Motor learning mediated by motor training has in the past been explored for rehabilitation. Myoelectric interfaces together with exoskeletons allow patients to receive real-time feedback about their muscle activity. However, the number of degrees of freedom that can be simultaneously controlled is limited, which hinders the training of functional tasks and the effectiveness of the rehabilitation therapy. The objective of this study was to develop a myoelectric interface that would allow multi-degree-of-freedom control of an exoskeleton involving arm, wrist and hand joints, with an eye toward rehabilitation. We tested the effectiveness of a myoelectric decoder trained with data from one upper limb and mirrored to control a multi-degree-of-freedom exoskeleton with the opposite upper limb (i.e., mirror myoelectric interface) in 10 healthy participants. We demonstrated successful simultaneous control of multiple upper-limb joints by all participants. We showed evidence that subjects learned the mirror myoelectric model within the span of a five-session experiment, as reflected by a significant decrease in the time to execute trials and in the number of failed trials. These results are the necessary precursor to evaluating if a decoder trained with EMG from the healthy limb could foster learning of natural EMG patterns and lead to motor rehabilitation in stroke patients.
Original languageEnglish
Article number764936
Pages (from-to)764936
Number of pages1
JournalFrontiers in Neuroscience
Volume16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11 Mar 2022

Keywords

  • Motor learning
  • Myoelectric interface
  • Multi-DoF exoskeleton control
  • Rehabilitation
  • Stroke

Project and Funding Information

  • Project ID
  • info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/951910/EU/Multifunctional, adaptive and interactive AI system for Acting in multiple contexts/MAIA
  • Funding Info
  • This study was funded by the Eurostars Project E! 113928 Subliminal Home Rehab (SHR), BMBF (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung) (FKZ: SHR 01QE2023; and REHOME 16SV8606), Fortüne-Program of the University of Tübingen (2452-0-0/1), Ministry of Science of the Basque Country (Elkartek: MODULA KK-2019/00018) and H2020- FETPROACT-EIC-2018-2020 (MAIA 951910).

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