Discrimination of Combined Motions for Prosthetic Hands Using Surface EMG Signals

Abstract

The present paper proposes a multiple step discrimination method to determine single and combined movements intended by an amputee from surface electromyogram (EMG) signals. Most previous approaches to the discrimination of movement using EMG signals have been restricted to single joint movements. Our approach enables the amputee's intended movement to be determined from among four single and two combined limb functions using an initial rise zone 125 msec long. Experiments with ten subjects and four electrodes demonstrated that our proposal determines six forearm movements at a discrimination rate exceeding than 90 %.