Design of EMG-driven Musculoskeletal Model for Volitional Control of a Robotic Ankle Prosthesis
This addresses the need for more versatile prosthetic control for individuals with lower-limb amputations, though it appears incremental as it builds on existing EMG and musculoskeletal modeling approaches.
The study tackled the problem of robotic ankle prostheses being inadequate for non-cyclic daily activities by designing an EMG-driven musculoskeletal model for volitional control, validated through offline simulations and real-time control to assist functional tasks.
Existing robotic lower-limb prostheses use autonomous control to address cyclic, locomotive tasks, but they are inadequate to operate the prosthesis for daily activities that are non-cyclic and unpredictable. To address this challenge, this study aims to design a novel electromyography (EMG)-driven musculoskeletal model for volitional control of a robotic ankle-foot prosthesis. This controller places the user in continuous control of the device, allowing them to freely manipulate the prosthesis behavior at will. The Hill-type muscle model was used to model a dorsiflexor and a plantarflexor, which functioned around a virtual ankle joint. The model parameters were determined by fitting the model prediction to the experimental data collected from an able-bodied subject. EMG signals recorded from ankle agonist and antagonist muscle pair were used to activate the virtual muscle models. This model was validated via offline simulations and real-time prosthesis control. Additionally, the feasibility of the proposed prosthesis control on assisting the user's functional tasks was demonstrated. The present control may further improve the function of robotic prosthesis for supporting versatile activities in individuals with lower-limb amputations.