scholarly journals MCSNet: Channel Synergy-Based Human-Exoskeleton Interface With Surface Electromyogram

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kecheng Shi ◽  
Rui Huang ◽  
Zhinan Peng ◽  
Fengjun Mu ◽  
Xiao Yang
Keyword(s):  
Upper Limb ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Prediction Performance ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Natural Interaction ◽  
Semg Signal ◽  
Good Movement ◽  
Lower Limb Movement ◽  
Feature Visualization ◽  
Semg Signals

The human–robot interface (HRI) based on biological signals can realize the natural interaction between human and robot. It has been widely used in exoskeleton robots recently to help predict the wearer's movement. Surface electromyography (sEMG)-based HRI has mature applications on the exoskeleton. However, the sEMG signals of paraplegic patients' lower limbs are weak, which means that most HRI based on lower limb sEMG signals cannot be applied to the exoskeleton. Few studies have explored the possibility of using upper limb sEMG signals to predict lower limb movement. In addition, most HRIs do not consider the contribution and synergy of sEMG signal channels. This paper proposes a human–exoskeleton interface based on upper limb sEMG signals to predict lower limb movements of paraplegic patients. The interface constructs an channel synergy-based network (MCSNet) to extract the contribution and synergy of different feature channels. An sEMG data acquisition experiment is designed to verify the effectiveness of MCSNet. The experimental results show that our method has a good movement prediction performance in both within-subject and cross-subject situations, reaching an accuracy of 94.51 and 80.75%, respectively. Furthermore, feature visualization and model ablation analysis show that the features extracted by MCSNet are physiologically interpretable.

scholarly journals Audio-visual stimulation in conjunction with functional electrical stimulation to address upper limb and lower limb movement disorder

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepesh Kumar ◽  
Sunny Verma ◽  
Sutapa Bhattacharya ◽  
Uttama Lahiri
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Movement Disorder ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Functional Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Visual Stimulation ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Lower Limb Movement ◽  
Rehabilitation Exercises

Neurological disorders often manifest themselves in the form of movement deficit on the part of the patient. Conventional rehabilitation often used to address these deficits, though powerful are often monotonous in nature. Adequate audio-visual stimulation can prove to be motivational. In the research presented here we indicate the applicability of audio-visual stimulation to rehabilitation exercises to address at least some of the movement deficits for upper and lower limbs. Added to the audio-visual stimulation, we also use Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). In our presented research we also show the applicability of FES in conjunction with audio-visual stimulation delivered through VR-based platform for grasping skills of patients with movement disorder.

Computed tomography angiography and microsurgical flaps for traumatic wounds: What is the added value?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Lucas Sousa Macedo ◽  
Renato Polese Rusig ◽  
Gustavo Bersani Silva ◽  
Alvaro Baik Cho ◽  
Teng Hsiang Wei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Computed Tomography ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Computed Tomography Angiography ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Added Value ◽  
Vascular Lesions ◽  
Limb Injuries ◽  
Significant Difference

BACKGROUND: Microsurgical flaps are widely used to treat complex traumatic wounds of upper and lower limbs. Few studies have evaluated whether the vascular changes in preoperative computed tomography angiography (CTA) influence the selection of recipient vessel and type of anastomosis and the microsurgical flaps outcomes including complications. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate if preoperative CTA reduces the occurrence of major complications (revision of the anastomosis, partial or total flap failure, and amputation) of the flaps in upper and lower limb trauma, and to describe and analyze the vascular lesions of the group with CTA and its relationship with complications. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was undertaken with all 121 consecutive patients submitted to microsurgical flaps for traumatic lower and upper limb, from 2014 to 2020. Patients were divided into two groups: patients with preoperative CTA (CTA+) and patients not submitted to CTA (CTA–). The presence of postoperative complications was assessed and, within CTA+, we also analyzed the number of patent arteries on CTA and described the arterial lesions. RESULTS: Of the 121 flaps evaluated (84 in the lower limb and 37 in the upper limb), 64 patients underwent preoperative CTA. In the CTA+ group, 56% of patients with free flaps for lower limb had complete occlusion of one artery. CTA+ patients had a higher rate of complications (p = 0.031), which may represent a selection bias as the most complex limb injuries and may have CTA indicated more frequently. The highest rate of complications was observed in chronic cases (p = 0.034). There was no statistically significant difference in complications in patients with preoperative vascular injury or the number of patent arteries. CONCLUSIONS: CTA should not be performed routinely, however, CTA may help in surgical planning, especially in complex cases of high-energy and chronic cases, since it provides information on the best recipient artery and the adequate level to perform the microanastomosis, outside the lesion area.

scholarly journals Cross-Sectional Survey of Musculoskeletal Disorders in Workers Practicing Traditional Methods of Underground Coal Mining

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 2566
Author(s):  
Madiha Ijaz ◽  
Sajid Rashid Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad M. Akram ◽  
Steven M. Thygerson ◽  
Falaq Ali Nadeem ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coal Mining ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Underground Mines ◽  
Upper Limbs ◽  
Underground Coal Mining ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
R Programming

Background: In subcontinental underground mines, coal mining is carried out manually and requires many laborers to practice traditional means of coal excavation. Each task of this occupation disturbs workers’ musculoskeletal order. In order to propose and practice possible ergonomic interventions, it is necessary to know what tasks (drilling and blasting, coal cutting, dumping, transporting, timbering and supporting, loading and unloading) cause disorder in either upper limbs, lower limbs, or both. Methods: To this end, R-programming, version R 3.1.2 and SPSS, software 20, were used to calculate data obtained by studying 260 workers (working at different tasks of coal mining) from 20 mines of four districts of Punjab, Pakistan. In addition, a Standard Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (SNMQ) and Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA) sheet were used to collect data and to analyze postures respectively. Results: In multi regression models, significance of the five tasks for upper and lower limb disorder is 0.00, which means that task based prevalence of upper and lower limb disorders are common in underground coal mines. The results of the multiple bar chart showed that 96 coal cutters got upper limb disorders and 82 got lower limb disorders. The task of timbering and supporting was shown to be dangerous for the lower limbs and relatively less dangerous for the upper limbs, with 25 workers reporting pain in their lower limbs, and 19 workers reporting pain in their upper limbs. Documented on the RULA sheet, all tasks got the maximum possible score (7), meaning that each of these tasks pose a threat to the posture of 100% of workers. The majority of participants (182) fell in the age group of 26 to 35 years. Of those workers, 131 reported pain in the lower limbs and slight discomfort (128) in the upper limbs. The significance value of age was 0.00 for upper limb disorder and was 0.012 for lower limb disorder. Frequency graphs show age in direct proportion to severity of pain while in inverse proportion with number of repetitions performed per min. Conclusions: All findings infer that each task of underground coal mining inflicts different levels of disorder in a workers’ musculoskeletal structure of the upper and lower limbs. It highlighted the need for urgent intervention in postural aspects of each task.

Mirror motion recognition method about upper limb rehabilitation robot based on sEMG

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Lin Li
Keyword(s):  
Feature Extraction ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Limb Movement ◽  
Muscle Synergy ◽  
Rehabilitation Robot ◽  
Semg Signal ◽  
Motion Recognition ◽  
Upper Limb Rehabilitation ◽  
Mirror Motion ◽  
Semg Signals

A novel method of mirror motion recognition by rehabilitation robot with multi-channels sEMG signals is proposed, aiming to help the stroked patients to complete rehabilitation training movement. Firstly the bilateral mirror training is used and the model of muscle synergy with basic sEMG signals is established. Secondly, the constrained L1/2-NMF is used to extracted the main sEMG signals information which can also reduce the limb movement characteristics. Finally the relationship between sEMG signal characteristics and upper limb movement is described by TSSVD-ELM and it is applied to improve the model stability. The validity and feasibility of the proposed strategy are verified by the experiments in this paper, and the rehabilitation robot can move with the mirror upper limb. By comparing the method proposed in this paper with PCA and full-action feature extraction, it is confirmed that convergence speed is faster; the feature extraction accuracy is higher which can be used in rehabilitation robot systems.

scholarly journals Neural coupling between upper and lower limbs during recumbent stepping

2004 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 1299-1308 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen J. Huang ◽  
Daniel P. Ferris
Keyword(s):  
Upper Limb ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Gait Rehabilitation ◽  
Upper Limbs ◽  
Neurologically Impaired ◽  
Resistance Level ◽  
Neuromuscular Activation ◽  
Lower Limb Muscles ◽  
Robotic Devices

During gait rehabilitation, therapists or robotic devices often supply physical assistance to a patient's lower limbs to aid stepping. The expensive equipment and intensive manual labor required for these therapies limit their availability to patients. One alternative solution is to design devices where patients could use their upper limbs to provide physical assistance to their lower limbs (i.e., self-assistance). To explore potential neural effects of coupling upper and lower limbs, we investigated neuromuscular recruitment during self-driven and externally driven lower limb motion. Healthy subjects exercised on a recumbent stepper using different combinations of upper and lower limb exertions. The recumbent stepper mechanically coupled the upper and lower limbs, allowing users to drive the stepping motion with upper and/or lower limbs. We instructed subjects to step with 1) active upper and lower limbs at an easy resistance level (active arms and legs); 2) active upper limbs and relaxed lower limbs at easy, medium, and hard resistance levels (self-driven); and 3) relaxed upper and lower limbs while another person drove the stepping motion (externally driven). We recorded surface electromyography (EMG) from six lower limb muscles. Self-driven EMG amplitudes were always higher than externally driven EMG amplitudes ( P < 0.05). As resistance and upper limb exertion increased, self-driven EMG amplitudes also increased. EMG bursts during self-driven and active arms and legs stepping occurred at similar times. These results indicate that active upper limb movement increases neuromuscular activation of the lower limbs during cyclic stepping motions. Neurologically impaired humans that actively engage their upper limbs during gait rehabilitation may increase neuromuscular activation and enhance activity-dependent plasticity.

scholarly journals Brain Activity during Lower-Limb Movement with Manual Facilitation: An fMRI Study

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia Maria Duarte de Almeida ◽  
Ana Isabel Correia Matos de Ferreira Vieira ◽  
Nádia Isabel Silva Canário ◽  
Miguel Castelo-Branco ◽  
Alexandre Lemos de Castro Caldas
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Verbal Stimulus ◽  
Limb Movement ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Normal Brain ◽  
Lower Limb Movement ◽  
The Right

Brain activity knowledge of healthy subjects is an important reference in the context of motor control and reeducation. While the normal brain behavior for upper-limb motor control has been widely explored, the same is not true for lower-limb control. Also the effects that different stimuli can evoke on movement and respective brain activity are important in the context of motor potentialization and reeducation. For a better understanding of these processes, a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to collect data of 10 healthy subjects performing lower-limb multijoint functional movement under three stimuli: verbal stimulus, manual facilitation, and verbal + manual facilitation. Results showed that, with verbal stimulus, both lower limbs elicit bilateral cortical brain activation; with manual facilitation, only the left lower limb (LLL) elicits bilateral activation while the right lower limb (RLL) elicits contralateral activation; verbal + manual facilitation elicits bilateral activation for the LLL and contralateral activation for the RLL. Manual facilitation also elicits subcortical activation in white matter, the thalamus, pons, and cerebellum. Deactivations were also found for lower-limb movement. Manual facilitation is stimulus capable of generating brain activity in healthy subjects. Stimuli need to be specific for bilateral activation and regarding which brain areas we aim to activate.

scholarly journals Monoclonal Gammopathy Presenting as Peripheral Neuropathy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vishaka Agarwal ◽  
Koukutla Soundarya Rajeshwari ◽  
KT Jayakumar ◽  
. Satish ◽  
Chetan Somu
Keyword(s):  
Upper Limb ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy ◽  
Position Sense ◽  
Joint Position Sense ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Foot Drop ◽  
Thigh Muscle ◽  
Upper Limbs ◽  
Long Duration

Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) is a disorder of peripheral nervous system, which presents with a long duration (eight weeks) of sensory and/or motor, symmetric/asymmetric symptoms. Aetiology ranges from infections, inflammations, autoimmune disorders, to vasculitis and malignancies. Hereby, authors report a case of a male patient who presented with complains of bilateral lower limb numbness and weakness, and bilateral upper limb numbness, since two months, which was gradually progressive. On examination, he was found to have muscle wasting in his bilateral upper limb web spaces, left anterior thigh muscle, decreased tone in bilateral upper limbs and lower limbs, decreased power in both his upper limbs distally and decreased power in both his lower limbs (distal>>proximal) was seen. Superficial reflexes were normal with bilateral plantar being equivocal. Deep tendon reflexes were absent in bilateral upper and lower limbs. Tremors of bilateral upper limbs on extension were present. Loss of vibration sense throughout, loss of joint position sense at bilateral big toe and ankle joint and foot drop of his left lower limb were noticed. A diagnosis of CIDP with underlying plasma cell disorder was made after serum electrophoresis, immune-fixation and electrodiagnostic studies. The patient was started on prednisone 60 mg once daily, discharged and advised for monthly follow-up. Diagnosis of CIDP and the underlying cause is multifactorial, which can be misdiagnosed, presenting as a challenge. Hence, a detailed clinical examination, appropriate investigations are very crucial in diagnosing and treating a case of CIDP and its underlying cause. Treatment includes glucocorticoids like prednisone, IV Ig (Intravenous Immunoglobulin), plasma exchange, treating the underlying cause.

scholarly journals (A21) Injury Patterns of Blast Type Antipersonnel Land Mine Victims

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S1) ◽  
pp. s6-s6
Author(s):  
L. Dassanayake ◽  
A. Karunarathne ◽  
D. Munidasa
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
The Body ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Severe Injuries ◽  
Land Mine ◽  
Limb Injuries ◽  
Tarsal Bones ◽  
Compound Fractures

Anti-personnel land mines are deployed in many regions of conflict around the world. A large number of civilians and militants are affected regularly due to the blasts of such mines. Once set, they remain as silent concealed killers for decades and challenge the safety of the civilians even during the times of peace. A descriptive study was carried out at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital during a six month period starting in July 2007. The total number of anti-personal land mine injuries admitted during this period was 89. In all cases, the body part primarily in contact with the mine had been a lower limb. Except for few occasions, extensive soft tissue damage associated with compound fractures necessitated some form of an amputation for those limbs in primary contact with the blast mines. Closed fractures of the calcareous, talus, and the tarsal bones were seen in two cases. Nearly two thirds of the patients sustained either soft tissue or bone injuries to the opposite lower limb. Twelve percent of the victims had compound fractures on the opposite tibia and fibula. Injuries to external genitalia were seen in 8% of the cases. Upper limb injuries were not rare and predominantly found on the contra lateral upper limb (17%). The majority of them were soft tissue injuries. Chest wall injuries were seen among 2% of the cases. Superficial facial injuries were seen among 7% of the cases. In one occasion a gingival injury was detected. Seven percent of the victims developed deterioration in level of consciousness. None of them clinically showed any external physical trauma to the head. In some instances, the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) was ranked as 7 in which tracheal intubation and ventilation were needed. It was evident in this study that the majority of the affected patients sustained severe injuries in both lower limbs in contrast to some of the previous available studies.

Did the Clinical Spectrum of Thromboangiitis Obliterans Change in the Past 40 Years?

Angiology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (7) ◽  
pp. 621-625
Author(s):  
Simon Soudet ◽  
Alexandre Le Joncour ◽  
Thomas Quemeneur ◽  
Helene Maillard ◽  
Fabien Koskas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Limb ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Clinical Spectrum ◽  
Thromboangiitis Obliterans ◽  
Female Ratio ◽  
The Past ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Young Smokers ◽  
Male To Female

Thromboangiitis obliterans (TAO) is an inflammatory disease that usually affects small and medium-sized arteries in the upper and lower limbs of young smokers. Previous studies showed that the spectrum TAO has changed in the 80s: the male-to-female ratio decreased, older patients were diagnosed, and upper limb involvement was more common. The aim of our study was to assess the changing clinical spectrum of TAO in France during the past 40 years. All consecutive patients fulfilling TAO’s criteria between January 1967 and January 2016 were retrospectively included in 3 departments of internal medicine. We compared TAO features in patients diagnosed before and after 2002; 141 (77.5%) men and 41 (22.5%) women were included. Patients diagnosed after 2002 were older (37 [31-39] vs 34 [29-35] years P = .03), had a more frequent isolated upper limb involvement (34.3% vs 7.8% P = .001), and less frequent isolated lower limb involvement (55.7% vs 74.5%, P < .001). The clinical spectrum of TAO has changed in France since the beginning of the 21st century.

scholarly journals Lower Limb Motion Recognition Method Based on Improved Wavelet Packet Transform and Unscented Kalman Neural Network

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Xin Shi ◽  
Pengjie Qin ◽  
Jiaqing Zhu ◽  
Shuyuan Xu ◽  
Weiren Shi
Keyword(s):  
Neural Network ◽  
Lower Extremity ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Wavelet Packet ◽  
Sliding Window ◽  
Recognition Algorithm ◽  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Exoskeleton Robot ◽  
Motion Intention ◽  
Semg Signals

Exoskeleton robot is a typical application to assist the motion of lower limbs. To make the lower extremity exoskeleton more flexible, it is necessary to identify various motion intentions of the lower limbs of the human body. Although more sEMG sensors can be used to identify more lower limb motion intention, with the increase in the number of sensors, more and more data need to be processed. In the process of human motion, the collected sEMG signal is easy to be interfered with noise. To improve the practicality of the lower extremity exoskeleton robot, this paper proposed a wavelet packet transform- (WPT-) based sliding window difference average filtering feature extract algorithm and the unscented Kalman neural network (UKFNN) recognition algorithm. We established an sEMG energy feature model, using a sliding window difference average filtering method to suppress noise interference and extracted stable feature values and using UKF filtering to optimize the neural network weights to improve the adaptability and accuracy of the recognition model. In this paper, we collected the sEMG signals of three muscles to identify six lower limb motion intentions. The average accuracy of 94.83% is proposed in this paper. Experiments show that the algorithm improves the accuracy and anti-interference of motion intention recognition of lower limb sEMG signals. The algorithm is superior to the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) recognition algorithm in the lower limb motion intention recognition and proves the effectiveness, novelty, and reliability of the method in this paper.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document