title: On the usability of intramuscular EMG for prosthetic control: a Fitts' Law approach.
abstract: Previous studies on intramuscular EMG based control used offline data analysis. The current study investigates the usability of intramuscular EMG in two degree-of-freedom using a Fitts' Law approach by combining classification and proportional control to perform a task, with real time feedback of user performance. Nine able-bodied subjects participated in the study. Intramuscular and surface EMG signals were recorded concurrently from the right forearm. Five performance metrics (Throughput,Path efficiency, Average Speed, Overshoot and Completion Rate) were used for quantification of usability. Intramuscular EMG based control performed significantly better than surface EMG for Path Efficiency (80.5±2.4% vs. 71.5±3.8%, P=0.004) and Overshoot (22.0±3.0% vs. 45.1±6.6%, P=0.01). No difference was found between Throughput and Completion Rate. However the Average Speed was significantly higher for surface (51.8±5.5%) than for intramuscular EMG (35.7±2.7%). The results obtained in this study imply that intramuscular EMG has great potential as control source for advanced myoelectric prosthetic devices.
authors.affiliation: Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction (SMI), Department of Health Science and Technology, Aalborg University, Fredrik Bajers Vej 7 D3, DK-9220 Aalborg, Denmark. Electronic address: enk@hst.aau.dk.
authors.forename: Ernest N
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Kamavuako
authors.affiliation: Institut of Biomedical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Canada. Electronic address: escheme@unb.ca.
authors.forename: Erik J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Scheme
authors.affiliation: Institut of Biomedical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Canada. Electronic address: kengleha@unb.ca.
authors.forename: Kevin B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Englehart
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D011474:Prosthesis Design / Q000379:methods*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Fitts’ Law test; Intramuscular EMG; Pattern recognition; Proportional control; Real-time control