Affordable Embroidered EMG Electrodes for Myoelectric Control of Prostheses: A Pilot Study

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Rehabilitation Technology
• Wearable Sensors

Background:

• Commercial myoelectric prostheses present significant cost barriers, particularly in developing nations.
• Existing prostheses rely on conventional gel electrodes, which can be expensive to maintain.
• Embroidered electromyography (EMG) electrodes are emerging as a potentially more cost-effective alternative.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the usability of embroidered EMG electrodes for myoelectric control.
• To compare the performance of embroidered electrodes against conventional gel electrodes in both offline and online settings.
• To assess the feasibility of embroidered electrodes for developing low-cost myoelectric prostheses.

Main Methods:

• Offline performance evaluation involved classifying nine distinct hand and wrist gestures using EMG data.
• Online performance assessment utilized a real-time, two-degree-of-freedom experiment based on Fitts' Law.
• Usability was quantified using Throughput and Completion Rate metrics.

Main Results:

• High classification accuracy for nine gestures was achieved: ~98% for subject-specific models and 97-96% for general models.
• Online performance metrics, including Throughput (0.3 bits/s) and Completion Rate (95-97%), were comparable between embroidered and gel electrodes.
• No significant difference in performance was observed between the two electrode types.

Conclusions:

• Embroidered EMG electrodes demonstrate performance parity with conventional gel electrodes.
• This research validates embroidered electrodes as a viable technology for developing affordable myoelectric prostheses.
• The findings pave the way for increased accessibility to advanced prosthetic technology.