Flexible multichannel muscle impedance sensors for collaborative human-machine interfaces

The demand for advanced human-machine interfaces (HMIs) highlights the need for accurate measurement of muscle contraction states. Traditional methods, such as electromyography, cannot measure passive muscle contraction states, while optical and ultrasonic techniques suffer from motion artifacts due to their rigid transducers. To overcome these limitations, we developed a flexible multichannel electrical impedance sensor (FMEIS) for noninvasive detection of skeletal muscle contractions. By applying an imperceptible current, the FMEIS can target multiple deep muscles by capturing electric-field ripples generated by their contractions. With an ultrathin profile (~220 micrometers), a low elastic modulus (212.8 kilopascals) closely matching human skin, and engineered adhesive sensor surfaces, the FMEIS conforms nicely to human skin with minimized motion artifacts. The FMEIS achieved high accuracy in both hand gesture recognition and muscle force prediction using machine learning models. With demonstrated performance across multiple HMI applications, including human-robot collaboration, exoskeleton control, and virtual surgery, FMEIS shows great potential for future real-time collaborative HMI systems.