The present paper was inspired by the suggestion that an intuitive interface between user and device would aid the effective control of myoelectric AT (cf. flexing and extending the wrist or elbow, respectively. This function is arguably different from the original function of these muscles, i.e. For example, in hand prosthetics, the action of closing and opening of the hand is controlled with remaining parts of wrist or elbow flexors and extensor muscles-depending on the level of amputation. One of the aspects that could cause these problems is that the control of myoelectric AT is non-intuitive, as muscles have a different function during the control of actions with myoelectric AT compared to the same action in the non-affected situation (cf. For instance, movements with myoelectric AT are non-smooth and require high levels of attention. However, despite the technological advancement in many devices, patients often still experience problems to control myoelectric AT in daily life.
Furthermore, myosignals have been applied in other human-machine interfaces which are relevant for the independence of patients with neuromotor deficits, such as in the control of a personal computer or the teleoperation of robotic arms. in myoelectric prostheses, myo-powered electric wheelchairs, and movement supporting devices, such as exoskeletons and orthoses. Often, myosignals are used to control the AT, e.g. Within current rehabilitation practice, a substantial focus is on applying assistive technology (AT) to help patients with neuromotor deficits regain functionality in their daily activities. Given the gradual change in muscle synergy exploitation across end-effectors, future research should examine whether this potential can be extended to a larger range of movements and tasks. ConclusionĪ limited number of muscle synergies was systematically exploited in the examined set of movements, indicating a potential for the fixed muscle synergy approach to improve the intuitive control of myoelectric AT. In line with this result, the order of contribution of muscle synergies extracted from the pooled dataset gradually reversed across end-effectors. Subsequent analyses showed that gradually different muscle synergies-extracted from separate end-effectors-were exploited across end-effectors. Per end-effector, 3–5 muscle synergies could explain 73.8–81.1% of myosignal variation, whereas 6–8 muscle synergies from the pooled dataset also captured this amount of myosignal variation.
The exploitation of these muscle synergies was assessed by evaluating the similarity of structure and explanatory ability of myosignals of per end-effector muscle synergies and the contribution of pooled muscle synergies across end-effectors. Myosignals were collected from 22 muscles in the arm, trunk, and back, and subsequently partitioned into muscle synergies per end-effector and for a pooled dataset including all end-effectors. with the index finger and with rods of different lengths. Healthy participants made multidirectional point-to-point movements with different end-effectors, i.e. Therefore, the present study examined the systematic exploitation of muscle synergies when muscles were used differently to complete point-to-point movements with and without a rod. To effectively employ this approach in myoelectric AT, it is required that a limited number of muscle synergies is systematically exploited, also when muscles are used differently as required in controlling myoelectric AT. A significant approach within neurocomputational motor control suggests that myosignals are produced via a limited number of fixed muscle synergies. The present paper was inspired by the suggestion that intuitive control may be achieved if the control of myoelectric AT is based on neuromotor control principles. Making the control of myoelectric AT intuitive may resolve the experienced difficulties. Users of myoelectric controlled assistive technology (AT) for upper extremities experience difficulties in controlling this technology in daily life, partly because the control is non-intuitive.
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