Development of the assist system to operate a computer for the disabled using multichannel surface EMG

The purpose of this study is development of the assist system to easily operate a computer for the disabled such as amputees. In order to operate a computer, we usually use a mouse, and our system assists a mouse operation. Our system requires electromyography (EMG) signals of the arm instead of the mouse operation by the hand, and those EMG signals are used to become a control source for the mouse operation. To acquire the EMG signal, using a multichannel electrode that has 96 channels is a key of this assist system. As for the old assist system using the EMG, most of them require the definition of the target muscle. In many cases, these systems used 2 or more electrodes. We have developed an assist system using 96 channels matrix-type surface multi channel electrode. The EMG signal is recognized by canonical discriminant analysis. From measured EMG data, we can discriminate 10 movements of the hand. So, our system will be a powerful one to support activities of the disabled.