Fabric Vest Socket with Embroidered Electrodes for Control of Myoelectric Prosthesis

Abstract

Myoelectric prostheses assist users to live their daily lives. However, the majority of users are primarily confined to forearm amputees because the surface electromyography (sEMG) that understands the motion intents should be acquired from a residual limb for control of the myoelectric prosthesis. This study proposes a novel fabric vest socket that includes embroidered electrodes suitable for a high-level upper amputee, especially for shoulder disarticulation. The fabric vest socket consists of rigid support and a fabric vest with embroidered electrodes. Several experiments were conducted to verify the practicality of the developed vest socket with embroidered electrodes. The sEMG signals were measured using commercial Ag/AgCl electrodes for a comparison to verify the performance of the embroidered electrodes in terms of signal amplitudes, the skin-electrode impedance, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). These results showed that the embroidered electrodes were as effective as the commercial electrodes. Then, posture classification was carried out by able-bodied subjects for the usability of the developed vest socket. The average classification accuracy for each subject reached 97.92%, and for all the subjects it was 93.2%. In other words, the fabric vest socket with the embroidered electrodes could measure sEMG signals with high accuracy. Therefore, it is expected that it can be readily worn by high-level amputees to control their myoelectric prostheses, as well as it is cost effective for fabrication as compared with the traditional socket.

Acquisition of Surface EMG Using Flexible and Low-Profile Electrodes for Lower Extremity Neuroprosthetic Control

“…Based upon the preliminary quantitative and qualitative evaluations, the novel electrodes described in this study appear capable of robust sEMG signal acquisition from within a LE prosthetic socket and liner, adding to a growing body of literature focused on EMG-based control neuroprosthetic control that is more typically demonstrated in subjects living with upper limb upper extremity amputations [42]- [45]. The main limitation of this study is the small number of test subjects; this limitation is being addressed in ongoing studies.…”

Design and Fabrication of Embroidered Textile Strain Sensors: An Alternative to Stitch-Based Strain Sensors

“…In this sense, by embedding these sensors directly on the garments, there is potential for reducing the sources of noise that traditional hard sensors present. Furthermore, embedding the sensors directly onto the garment would allow for a reduction in the number of wires required for communication, by substituting these wires with conductive thread [ 37 , 38 ]. However, before being able to use the textile strain sensors in a wearable mechatronic system, it would be important to properly isolate them, as sweat and other impurities can affect their correct functionality.…”

A Novel Screen-Printed Textile Interface for High-Density Electromyography Recording

“…Textile electrodes are particularly suitable for practical application as they are reusable and can be integrated into breathable materials, thereby improving comfort and enabling long-term monitoring. Such electrodes are commonly produced using conductive yarn knitted [ 11 , 12 , 13 ] or embroidered [ 14 , 15 ] into the fabrics. However, conductive pads can be also created using standard screen-printing technology [ 16 ].…”