A Research on EMG Signal and Plantar Pressure Information for AK Prosthetic Control
With the development of prosthetics, the performance of AK (above-knee) prosthesis is highly required by the above-knee amputees. In the practical applications, there are many problems with the traditional AK prosthesis, the foremost one of which is that
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School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Hebei University of technology, Tianjin, China 2 National Research Center for Rehabilitation Technical Aids, Beijing, China
Abstract — With the development of prosthetics, the performance of AK (above-knee) prosthesis is highly required by the above-knee amputees. In the practical applications, there are many problems with the traditional AK prosthesis, the foremost one of which is that it has no variable speed and natural gait. In order to solve these problems, a method which based on EMG signal and plantar pressure information for gait analyzing and recognizing is proposed. With this method, the gait cycle could be effectively divided into four phases and the speed levels could be distinguished accurately. At the same time, the real-time and accuracy was greatly improved comparing with the control effect based on a single source. To control the AK prosthesis with this method can allow the AK amputees a more stable and natural gait when walking at variable speeds. Keywords — EMG signal, plantar pressure, AK prosthesis, speed, gait
I. INTRODUCTION With the development of science㧘computer and information technology has made substantial progress. The Research on AK prosthesis has gradually become the focus of the rehabilitation engineering. Though there was several hundred years of history on the AK prosthetic research both in domestic and foreign, many problems still existed in the traditional AK prosthesis, the foremost one of which was that it had no variable speed and natural gait. [1] For the AK prosthesis, the damper can be adjusted by controlling the valve in the cylinder, so as to change the speed of knee flexion and extension. [2] In order to ensure the security, valve should be closed when the prosthesis bore the weight. So the current walking speed and the start time of each phase in a gait cycle must be obtained to control when and how much the valve should open, so as to control the prosthesis better. [3] As the signal sources for controlling the AK prosthesis, plantar pressure information can intuitively reflect the current state of the body, while EMG signal is spontaneous and voluntary. So a method which based on both these two information for gait recognizing is proposed. To control the AK prosthesis with this method can allow the AK amputees a more stable and natural gait when walking at variable speeds.
II. MATERIALS AND METHODS A. Experiment for signal collection The experiment for signal collection mainly included two parts, which were plantar pressure measurement and EMG signals collection. For plantar pressure measurement, many kinds of sensors could be used. By taking into account that the sensor would be installed in the shoes, it should have a small thickness and area. So in the experiment, FlexiForce force sensors were selected for force measurement. The thickness of the sensor was only 0.208mm, and the diameter of the force area was 9.53mm, as well as the linear error was less than ± 5%, it would be able to meet the requirement of experim
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