Review of EMG-based neuromuscular interfaces for rehabilitation: elbow joint as an example

Abstract

Assistive robots have made great contributions to disabled people in physiotherapy and rehabilitation areas. The interface between patients and medical devices plays a significant role for patients to operate these kinds of robots. This review introduces the current research and development of neuromuscular interfaces, especially the new research directions with special focus on modelling of musculoskeletal systems for interfacing purposes. The paper also summarises the function and prominent advantage of using surface electromyography (sEMG) signals for the interface. The elbow joint was used as an example to go through the working steps of both human biological systems and neuromuscular interfaces. Further developments were also discussed to improve the interface to meet medical demands.