Movements with Lateral Constraint

Abstract

The literature on terminal control tasks and continuous tracking tasks suggests a possible model for tasks where the subject must guide a vehicle at his own speed along a course defined by a tolerance band. The model predicts a linear relationship between the average velocity and the width of the tolerance band. Throe experiments are described which simulate vehicle guidance by pencil-and-paper experiments for courses consisting of straight lines and circles. The predictions of the model were confirmed, suggesting that a general measure for the ease of control of a vehicle (or other controlled system) is possible using this technique.     

Technique,muscle activity and kinematic differences in young adults texting on mobile phones

The aim of this study was to investigate whether there are differences in technique between young adults with and without musculoskeletal symptoms when using a mobile phone for texting and whether there are differences in muscle activity and kinematics between different texting techniques. A total of 56 young adults performed a standardised texting task on a mobile phone. Their texting techniques were registered using an observation protocol. The muscular activity in six muscles in the right forearm/hand and both shoulders were registered by surface electromyography and the thumb abduction/adduction and flexion/extension were registered using a biaxial electrogoniometer. Differences in texting techniques were found between the symptomatic and the asymptomatic group, with a higher proportion of sitting with back support and forearm support and with a neutral head position in the asymptomatic group. Differences in muscle activity and kinematics were also found between different texting techniques. The differences in texting technique between symptomatic and asymptomatic subjects cannot be explained by them having symptoms but may be a possible contribution to their symptoms.

Statement of Relevance: There has been a dramatically increased use of mobile phones for texting especially among young people during the last years. A better understanding of the physical exposure associated with the intensive use is important in order to prevent the development of musculoskeletal disorders and decreased work ability related to this use.     

The effects of horizontal load speed and lifting frequency on lifting technique and biomechanics

Lifting loads that have a horizontal velocity (e.g. lifting from a conveyor) is often seen in industry and it was hypothesised that the inertial characteristics of these loads may influence lifting technique and low back stress. Seventeen male participants were asked to perform lifting tasks under conditions of four horizontal load speeds (0 m/s, 0.7 m/s, 1.3 m/s and 2.4 m/s) and two lifting frequencies (10 and 20 lifts/min) while trunk motions and trunk muscle activation levels were monitored. Results revealed that increasing horizontal load speed from 0 m/s to 2.4 m/s resulted in an increase in peak sagittal angle (73° vs. 81°) but lower levels of peak sagittal plane angular acceleration (480°/s² vs. 4°/s²) and peak transverse plane angular acceleration (200°/s per s vs. 140°/s per s) and a consistent increase in trunk muscle co-activation. Participants used the inertia of the load to reduce the peak dynamics of the lifting motion at a cost of increased trunk flexion and higher muscle activity.

Statement of Relevance: Conveyors are ubiquitous in industry and understanding the effects of horizontal load speed on the lifting motions performed by workers lifting items from these conveyors may provide some insight into low back injury risk posed by these tasks.     

肌电信号处理和肌电控制的研究

根据肌肉收缩力量的大小与运动神经纤维传出动作电位的频率有的特征，通过数据卡采集表面肌电信号，进行放大、滤波等处理，然后提取特征进行分析处理。在分析比较了各种特征提取方法的优缺点后，采用了功率谱法对肌电信号进行特征提取，并通过labview计算功率谱中最大值左右一定范围内的能量所占整个功率谱能量的比值K，根据K值来判断该肌电信号属于何种动作。     

Extraction and analysis of multiple time window features associated with muscle fatigue conditions using sEMG signals

In this work, an attempt has been made to differentiate surface electromyography (sEMG) signals under muscle fatigue and non-fatigue conditions with multiple time window (MTW) features. sEMG signals are recorded from biceps brachii muscles of 50 volunteers. Eleven MTW features are extracted from the acquired signals using four window functions, namely rectangular windows, Hamming windows, trapezoidal windows, and Slepian windows. Prominent features are selected using genetic algorithm and information gain based ranking. Four different classification algorithms, namely naïve Bayes, support vector machines, k-nearest neighbour, and linear discriminant analysis, are used for the study. Classifier performances with the MTW features are compared with the currently used time- and frequency-domain features. The results show a reduction in mean and median frequencies of the signals under fatigue. Mean and variance of the features differ by an order of magnitude between the two cases considered. The number of features is reduced by 45% with the genetic algorithm and 36% with information gain based ranking. The k-nearest neighbour algorithm is found to be the most accurate in classifying the features, with a maximum accuracy of 93% with the features selected using information gain ranking.     

Effect of working position and cold environment on muscle activation level and fatigue in the upper limb during manual work tasks

Several occupational groups are exposed to periods of low ambient temperatures while performing manual work tasks outdoors. Work tasks typically include heavy lifting, tool handling, and overhead work. This study evaluated the effect of working position and cold environment on muscle activation level (%RMS_max) and fatigue in the upper limb during manual work tasks. Fourteen male participants (25 ± 3 years, 80.9 ± 6.4 kg, 182 ± 5 cm) completed a 2-h test protocol consisting of five test periods alternating with four work periods, wearing identical sets of clothing, under cold (−15 °C) and control (5 °C) conditions. The work periods consisted of manual work at the hip level, manual overhead work, and a lifting exercise. The test periods consisted of isometric maximal voluntary contractions (MVC) and seated rest. Skin temperatures decreased during cold exposure, especially in the extremities. %RMS_max in the forearm was higher in the cold condition both during overhead work and work at the hip level than that for the same work in the control condition, especially at the end of the test when the difference was approximately 25% (equating to 2–3 %RMS_max). For the middle deltoid muscle, the %RMS_max was approximately three times (or 10 %RMS_max) higher during overhead work than work at the hip level, but there was no additional cost of working in the cold. Signs of deltoid muscle fatigue (decrease in electromyography median power frequency and an increase in %RMS_max) were observed during the overhead work periods in both temperature conditions. No decrease in MVC, as a sign of overall muscle fatigue, was observed in either condition.Relevance to industryThis study demonstrated that when wearing suitable cold-weather protective clothing, the adverse effect of work posture is much higher than that of cold on muscle demand and physical strain.     

Recognizing the breathing resistances of wearing respirators from respiratory and sEMG signals with artificial neural networks

This study is devoted to recognizing the breathing resistances of wearing respirators from respiratory and surface electromyography (sEMG) signals. Ten subjects were required to sit for 5 min and walk for 5 min while wearing two different models of N95 filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) and without a respirator. We recorded the sEMG signals from the respiratory muscles of the subjects, and the respiratory amplitude is also collected. Subsequently, fifteen features of the sEMG time domain and respiratory amplitude were extracted and used as input vectors to a recognition model based on artificial neural networks (ANNs). Finally, the experimental results show that these artificial neural networks are effective for recognizing different airway resistances of wearing respirators from sEMG and respiratory signals. The results also indicate that abdominal and scalene are the primary respiratory muscles affected by using N95 FFRs.Relevance to industryRespirator manufactures and administrations can readily employ this paper's findings for recognizing the breathing resistances of wearing respirators from respiratory and surface electromyography (sEMG) signals based on artificial neural networks automatically. Observations of the present study are in support of testing only the two primary muscles (abdominal and scalene) to simplify the evaluation of the effects of the breathing resistances of wearing respirators on respiratory muscles.     

基于改进 ResNet50 的表面肌电信号手势识别

为了提高手势动作在类别众多且相似度高的情况下的识别精度,提出了一种基于连续小波变换和残差神经网络Res- Net50的表面肌电信号手势识别方法。首先对Ninapro DB2 和 DB3 的原始表面肌电信号进行预处理和连续小波变换,得到 Multi-sEMG Wavelet Map 数据集,然后送入改进的ResNet50模型进行识别分类。实验结果表明,改进后的ResNet50 网络模 型在 Multi-sEMG Wavelet Map DB2 和 DB3中17种手势动作的平均准确率分别达到了96.40%和94.11%,相比 ResNet50 网络模型方法提升了4.87%和5.83%。实现了手势动作在类别繁多、相似度较高的情况下的精准识别。为基于非侵入式传 感器和机器学习控制的假肢手提供了新方案。     

Electromyography of Eating Apples: Influences of Cooking, Cutting, and Peeling

ABSTRACT: The mastication of 7 differently prepared apple samples (raw pieces peeled and unpeeled, sliced, grated, cooked pieces with and without peel, and half-cooked pieces, 10 g each) was evaluated using electromyography (EMG). Eleven subjects participated in the EMG recording of both sides of the masseter and temporal muscles while eating samples normally. Only the grated sample reduced the number of chewing strokes and muscle activity before swallowing. In contrast, the thin apple slices produced significantly shorter contraction duration and cycle time only during the 1st 5 chewing strokes. The EMG duration and cycle in subsequent chews, as well as the other parameters, did not significantly differ between slices and pieces. Cooked apples exhibited significantly lower EMG amplitude and muscle activity per chew than their raw counterparts; however, there was no evidence of reduced total muscle activity required for swallowing. Raw and cooked apples with peel yielded significantly greater EMG amplitude and longer duration than those without peel. These findings suggest that appropriate preparation is necessary for people with various mastication abilities: grated for very low ability, cooked for those with weak chewing force, and unpeeled for mastication training.