Abstract

The surface electromyogram (EMG) from biceps and triceps muscles of 33 subjects was related to elbow torque, contrasting EMG amplitude (EMGσ) estimation processors, linear/nonlinear model structures, and system identification techniques. Torque estimation was improved by 1) advanced EMGσ processors (i.e., whitened, multiple-channel signals); 2) longer duration training sets (52 s versus 26 s); and 3) determination of model parameters via pseudoinverse and ridge regression methods. Dynamic, nonlinear parametric models that included second- or third-degree polynomial functions of EMGσ outperformed linear models and Hammerstein/Weiner models. A minimum error of 4.65 ± 3.6% maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) flexion was attained using a third-degree polynomial, 28th-order dynamic model, with model parameters determined using the pseudoinverse method with tolerance 5.6 × 10 ^-3 on 52 s of four-channel whitened EMG data. Similar performance (4.67 ± 3.7% MVC flexion error) was realized using a second-degree, 18th-order ridge regression model with ridge parameter 50.1.

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E. A. Clancy, L. Liu, P. Liu and D. V. Z. Moyer, "Identification of Constant-Posture EMG–Torque Relationship About the Elbow Using Nonlinear Dynamic Models," in IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 205-212, Jan. 2012.
doi: 10.1109/TBME.2011.2170423

*denotes a WPI undergraduate student author