Topology of surface electromyogram signals: hand gesture decoding on Riemannian manifolds
This work addresses the problem of improving EMG-based interfaces for applications like amputee rehabilitation and gestural control, though it appears incremental in method.
The study tackled decoding hand gestures from surface electromyogram (EMG) signals by embedding them on Riemannian manifolds, finding that symmetric positive definite matrices are effective and quantifying distribution shifts across individuals for the first time.
$\textit{Objective.}$ In this article, we present data and methods for decoding hand gestures using surface electromyogram (EMG) signals. EMG-based upper limb interfaces are valuable for amputee rehabilitation, artificial supernumerary limb augmentation, gestural control of computers, and virtual and augmented reality applications. $\textit{Approach.}$ To achieve this, we collect EMG signals from the upper limb using surface electrodes placed at key muscle sites involved in hand movements. Additionally, we design and evaluate efficient models for decoding EMG signals. $\textit{Main results.}$ Our findings reveal that the manifold of symmetric positive definite (SPD) matrices serves as an effective embedding space for EMG signals. Moreover, for the first time, we quantify the distribution shift of these signals across individuals. $\textit{Significance.}$ Overall, our approach demonstrates significant potential for developing efficient and interpretable methods for decoding EMG signals. This is particularly important as we move toward the broader adoption of EMG-based wrist interfaces.