Motor unit drive: a neural interface for real-time upper limb prosthetic control
Motor unit drive: a neural interface for real-time upper limb prosthetic control
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DOI：
10.1088/1741-2552/aaeb0f
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发表时间：
2018-12
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Michael D Twardowski;Serge H. Roy;Zhi Li;Paola Contessa;G. De Luca;Joshua C. Kline
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Michael D Twardowski;Serge H. Roy;Zhi Li;Paola Contessa;G. De Luca;Joshua C. Kline
目标。近年来，现代假肢已经取得了长足的进步，其中包括能够模仿人手的终端机电设备。然而，基于振幅的肌电神经接口的基本限制阻碍了这些先进控制能力的实现，这些限制在四十多年来几乎没有改变。因此，近23%的成年人和32%的患有严重创伤性或先天性上肢丧失的儿童放弃常规使用肌电义肢。为了解决这一医疗保健需求，我们开发了一种非侵入性神经接口技术，将神经控制和力的自然运动单元增量映射到生物力学信息信号中，以改进假肢控制。的方法。我们的技术被称为运动单元驱动（MU drive），利用实时机器学习算法，从截肢或先天缺失肢体的残余肌肉记录的表面肌电信号中直接测量运动单元的放电。基于单个运动单元的力产生特性，提取的放电被转化为生物力学信息信号，以提供代表预期运动的控制源。主要的结果。我们评估了MU Drive控制信号的特征，并将其与健康受试者以及先天性或外伤性经桡骨肢体丧失受试者的常规基于振幅的肌电信号进行了比较。我们的分析建立了一个重要的概念验证：MU Drive提供了一个更灵敏的实时信号，改善了平滑度，更忠实地复制了预期的肢体运动，克服了基于幅度的肌电方法固有的性能和延迟之间的权衡。的意义。MU Drive是第一个用于假肢控制的神经接口，它提供了对人类神经系统自然运动控制机制的非侵入性实时访问。这种新的神经接口有望通过实现更好地反映用户意图的高级控制来改善假肢功能。除了在假肢领域的直接优势之外，MU Drive还为推进外骨骼、辅助设备和其他机器人康复应用的控制提供了一种创新的选择。
Objective. Modern prosthetic limbs have made strident gains in recent years, incorporating terminal electromechanical devices that are capable of mimicking the human hand. However, access to these advanced control capabilities has been prevented by fundamental limitations of amplitude-based myoelectric neural interfaces, which have remained virtually unchanged for over four decades. Consequently, nearly 23% of adults and 32% of children with major traumatic or congenital upper-limb loss abandon regular use of their myoelectric prosthesis. To address this healthcare need, we have developed a noninvasive neural interface technology that maps natural motor unit increments of neural control and force into biomechanically informed signals for improved prosthetic control. Approach. Our technology, referred to as motor unit drive (MU Drive), utilizes real-time machine learning algorithms for directly measuring motor unit firings from surface electromyographic signals recorded from residual muscles of an amputated or congenitally missing limb. The extracted firings are transformed into biomechanically informed signals based on the force generating properties of individual motor units to provide a control source that represents the intended movement. Main results. We evaluated the characteristics of the MU Drive control signals and compared them to conventional amplitude-based myoelectric signals in healthy subjects as well as subjects with congenital or traumatic trans-radial limb-loss. Our analysis established a vital proof-of-concept: MU Drive provides a more responsive real-time signal with improved smoothness and more faithful replication of intended limb movement that overcomes the trade-off between performance and latency inherent to amplitude-based myoelectric methods. Significance. MU Drive is the first neural interface for prosthetic control that provides noninvasive real-time access to the natural motor control mechanisms of the human nervous system. This new neural interface holds promise for improving prosthetic function by achieving advanced control that better reflects the user intent. Beyond the immediate advantages in the field of prosthetics, MU Drive provides an innovative alternative for advancing the control of exoskeletons, assistive devices, and other robotic rehabilitation applications.