International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue6- June 2013

Development of EMG Sensor for Transfemoral Amputation (Knee Flexor and knee Extensor)
Kirtan P. Parekh#1, Jignesh B. Vyas*2
#*Department of Biomedical Engineering, Govt. Engineering College, Sec-28, Gandhinagar-382028, Gujarat, India.

Abstract The electromyogram, the electrical activity of skeletal muscle finds useful applications in many fields, such as biomechanics, rehabilitation medicine, neurology, gait analysis, pain management, orthotics, even unvoiced speech recognition, prosthetic device control and man-machine interfaces. This paper shows that how the development of EMG Sensor which is use in Transfemoral Amputation which is specially used in knee flexor and knee extensor. This paper gives the best solution for the EMG Acquisition for the amputee people who was suffered from Transfemoral (above knee) amputee. Keywords EMG Sensor, Surface Electromyography(SEMG), Transfemoral Amputee, knee joint.

I. INTRODUCTION Small electrical currents are generated by the muscle fibres prior to the production of muscle force. These currents are generated by the exchange of ions across muscle fibre membranes, a part of the signalling process for the muscle fibres to contract. The signal called the electromyogram (EMG) can be measured by applying conductive element or electrodes to the skin surface, or invasively within the muscle. Surface EMG is the more common method of measurement, since it is non-invasive and can be conducted by personnel other than Medical Doctors, with minimal risk to the subject. Surface electromyography (SEMG) signals provide a noninvasive tool for investigating the properties of skeletal muscles. The bandwidth of the recorded potentials are relatively narrow (40Hz-1 KHz), and their amplitude is low (50 V - 5 mV). These signals have been used not only for monitoring muscle behaviour during rehabilitation programs, but also for the mechanical control of prostheses. In this context, it is important to be able to correctly predict which movement is intended by the user. The SEMG signal is very convenient for such application, because it is non-invasive, simple to use, and intrinsically related to the users intention. The SEMG signals are acquired by surface electrodes placed on the skin over muscle(s) of the user. The signals originating from the electrodes are pre-amplified to differentiate the small signals of interest, and then are amplified, filtered and pre-amplified. Finally, the information is transferred to a myoelectric controller. This Paper will provide the concept and development of the EMG sensor for those people who are suffering from the Transfemoral amputee. And also this paper is used for the manufacturer, Neuro surgeon, doctors, scientists and Developer who can work on the EMG Signal processing and work on the Transfemoral amputees.

II. IMPORTANCE OF KNEE JOINT The knee joint is one of the most complex synovial joints that exist in the human body whose main functions are to permit the movement during the locomotion, and to allow the static stability. The mobility associated with the knee joint is indispensable to human locomotion and it helps correct foot orientation and positioning in order to overcome the possible ground irregularities. In the knee articulation, there are three types of motion, namely, flexion, rotation, and sliding of the patella. The knee joint includes three functional compartments, medial, lateral, and patello-femoral, which make the knee quite susceptible to injures and chronic disease, such as displacement, arthritis, ligaments rupture, and menisci separation. In fact, the greatest number of human ligament injuries occurs in ligaments of the knee. The knee joint is surrounded by a joint capsule with ligaments strapping the inside and outside of the joint (collateral ligaments) as well as crossing within the joint (cruciate ligaments).

Fig 1The Human leg muscles that caused flexion/extension knee joint

The muscles of the lower limb are larger and more powerful than those of the upper limbs. These muscles can be divided into three groups and they are shown in fig 1: Muscles that move the thigh. Muscles that move the leg. Muscles that move the foot and toes.

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue6- June 2013
Here, we considered only muscle that the move the leg. It means the principal knee movements are flexion and extension. III. PROPOSED SYSTEM Aimed at improving the quality of life for amputees, this paper is providing the development of EMG sensor for Transfemoral amputation. Two channels of MES are collected from the thigh using gelled surface electrodes. Electrodes are placed equidistant at thigh for knee flexors and knee extensors. The two MES channels are fed through instrumentation amplifier (AD620), with the limited gain. Outputs of the preamplifiers are fed into amplifiers with the bandwidth set at 50 Hz to 1 kHz. These filtered signals are than rectified and this signal seen on CRO or DSO. (abnormal) cases, but can vary between reduced and very high for neuropathic cases. Amplitude also has correlations with other characteristics that may make it valuable to graph it on a two dimensional scatter plot with another characteristic. Amplitude and Duration are positively correlated. Amplitude and AAR are negatively correlated which leads to more separable data distributions when the two are plotted together. B. Real EMG Signal Measurement There are two types of electrodes for obtaining EMG signals, inserted (invasive) electrodes and surface (non-invasive) electrodes. The ease of use of surface electrodes makes their implementation for this project preferable. Surface electrodes come in many varieties, with most characterized by the number of contacts. Some different types of surface electrodes are monopolar, bipolar, tripolar and multipolar, all of whose geometry is described by their name. For the purpose of this paper a multichannel bipolar electrodes are used along with a reference electrode in order to implement the differential amplifier. Electrode placement is important when using any of the electrode types described above. With the bipolar electrode the optimal position of the electrodes is parallel to the muscle fibers in order to maximize the probability of reading the same signal. Here to mimic the natural leg movement myoelectric signals are collected from knee flexor and extensor since these muscle groups are directly responsible for the knee movement of interest. Two differential myoelectric signal channels were recorded using surface electrodes. One channels were used to record potentials for flexors and the other one are used to record for extensor. The desired position for electrodes is on the belly of the muscle and not on the outer edge of the muscle where other muscles could interfere with the muscle under examination. The data for this experiment is recorded with single channel, and patients weight is 58Kg and his height is 168cm. Here, we were taking EMG in four places in patients body. This four muscle names are given below: 1. Rectus Femoris For Extensors 2. Vastus Medialis 3. Biceps Femoris (Short Head) For Flexors 4. Semimembranosus There are many important parameters that must be taken under consideration in the measurement process. The most important parameter in the measurement process is selecting a position for electrodes and clinical information of the job. 1) Position of Electrodes: There are nine muscles up and down of the knee joint affecting the movements of the knee. From the clinical information and practice experiential, the best position of electrodes is to recognize the maximum amplitude for flexion/extension knee joint. Fig 3 (A to D) represents practice experiment to select the position for two electrodes to get the EMG signal at the movements of joint. In this paper we used four muscles that

Fig 2 Generalized Block Diagram of EMG Acquisition System

A. EMG Characteristics A motor unit action potential, or MUAPs, is a summated action potential as detected from all the muscle fibers in the same motor unit. It is the summation of all the MFAPs produced by fibers of the MU. The shape and characteristics of a MUAP are shown in Figure 3. Now the characteristics of EMG or the O/P from MUAP can be summarized. The following characteristics will be covered: Duration, Amplitude, no. of turns / Area / the Area to Amplitude Ratio (AAR) [Thickness] / Size Index Firing Rate / Firing Rate per Motor Unit (FR/MU) / # of Phases / % Polyphasic MUAPs / # of Turns.

Fig 2 Characteristics of an EMG Signal

Now the simple explanation will present classification. The amplitude is consistently reduced or normal in myopathic

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue6- June 2013
have min effect for flexion/extension knee joint. The EMG signal is recorded by using SEMG electrodes therefore four electrodes must be used at the same moment (i.e. four channels recorded). In According to Table 1, data gives result for main four muscles which responsible minimum movement of flexion/extension of knee joint. For Flexions, 1. Rectus Femoriss amplitude range is 46V to 149V. 2. Vastus Medialiss amplitude range is 47V to 184V. For Extensions, 1. Semi-membraneouss range is 82V to 211V. 2. Biceps Femoris (Short Head)s amplitude range is 41V to 145V. C. High CMRR Instrumentation Amplifier The preferred method of amplification for this application is differential amplification using a bipolar electrode and instrumentation amplifier. It is this methods ability to remove electromagnetic noise that the body has picked up that make it the most attractive for this application. The main specification that must be considered when selecting an instrumentation amplifier for this task is its CMRR or common mode rejection ratio. In the case of EMG amplification the common signal is most commonly noise so this specification plays a critical role in acquiring an accurate signal.

Fig 3 Location of SEMG on Human Leg

2) Recording of SEMG Data: In this project the real SEMG signals were recorded by the following Procedure: Record the signal with relax and no movement in the knee joint (spontaneous case). Record the signal from full extension to full flexion of knee joint with time (3 sec) (i.e. slow motion of leg). Record the signal from full extension to full flexion of knee joint with time (1 sec) (i.e. fast motion of leg). Record the signal from full flexion to full extension of knee joint with time (3 sec) (i.e. slow motion of leg).
Readin g1 Readin g2 Readin g3 Readin g4 Readin g5

S Muscle r Name . N o 1 Rectus Femoris 2 Vastus Medialis 3 Semimembra nosus Biceps 4 Femoris (Short head)

113V 47V 111V

46V 73V 147V

51V 184V 82V

149V 162V 90V

134V 58V 211V

Fig 4 Instrumentation Amplifier

82V

71V

145V

41V

106V

Here the instrumentation amplifier AD620 of Analog Devices is selected for this design due to its high CMRR at high gain. The AD620 is a low cost, high accuracy instrumentation amplifier that requires only one external resistor to set gains of 1 to 10,000.Here Limited gain of approximately 25 is designed as we dont want to amplify noise with the signal. D. Band Pass Filter (40 Hz - 1 KHz) Except for amplifying raw EMG signals to reject commonmode signals using differential amplifiers, a Bandpass filter are required to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and reject other physiological signals, such as the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal and axon action potential (AAP). A filter is a device designed to attenuate specific ranges of frequencies, while allowing others to pass, and in so doing limit in some fashion the frequency spectrum of a signal.

Record the signal from full flexion to full extension of knee joint with time (1 sec) (i.e. fast motion of leg).

TABLE I READING OF SEMG DATA ON MUSCLES WHICH RESPONSIBLE FOR MAXIMUM MOVEMENT OF KNEE FLEXION/EXTENSION

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue6- June 2013
The frequency range(s) which is attenuated is called the Stop band, and the range which is transmitted is called the Pass band. The EMG signal falls within the audio frequency range 10 Hz to 5 KHz. The prominent frequency range from 40 Hz to 1 kHz has to be isolated to be then processed. Hence, filters play a vital role in signal conditioning part of this project. Fourth order Low pass filter with cut-off 1 kHz is followed by Fourth order High pass filter with cut-off 40 Hz is designed with a low power ,wide Bandwidth dual JFET input operational Amplifier op amp TL082(Texas Instruments) in order to obtain the prominent part of the signal which has already been extracted from the muscle.

Fig 7 50Hz Notch Filter

Fig 5 Fourth Order Low Pass Butterworth Filter

F. Non- Inverting Differential Amplifier Raw EMG signal contains noise and its amplitude is in microvolt range. At the pre amplifier stage we had set limited gain as signal contains noise so we need further amplification of filtered signal. So output of the notch filter is given to differential amplifier. The gain of this differential amplifier is set 50. At this stage total amplification becomes 7909 means approximately 8000(25(instrumentation amplifier gain)*1.586(2nd order low pass filter gain)*1.586(2nd order low pass filter gain)*1.586(2nd order high pass filter gain)*1.586(2nd order high pass filter gain)*50(Differential amplifier gain)).

Fig 6 Fourth Order High Pass Butterworth Filter Fig 8 Non Inverting Differential Amplifier

E. Notch Filter An EMG amplifier can catch ground noise from the power line which results in increased baseline noise (50/60 Hz noise).Notch filter is commonly used for the rejection of the single frequency such as 50 Hz power line frequency hum. The most commonly used notch filter is the twin-T network. This is a passive filter composed of two T-shaped networks. One T-Shape network is made up of two resistors and a capacitor, while the other uses two capacitors and a resistor. The notch out frequency is frequency at which maximum attenuation occurs, it is given by

G. Full Wave Rectifier In a rectification stage all negative amplitudes are converted to positive amplitudes, the negative spikes are moved up to plus or reflected by the baseline. It is useful for taking the absolute value of the raw signal mainly used as an intermediate step before another process (e.g., averaging, linear envelope and integration) can be done electronically and in real-time. Here bridge rectifier is use to rectify raw EMG signal. Diode 1N4148 is used for this purpose.

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International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue6- June 2013
IV. CONCLUSIONS The determination of optimal characteristics of EMG sensor for Transfemoral amputation is challenging and important, but difficult due to various issues of noises. From this study we can easily identify the placement of electrode on Transfemoral amputee (above knee) and the most common placement of electrode on the Transfemoral amputees patients are rectus femoriss which is responsible for flexors and Semimembraneouss which is responsible for Extensors which give maximum and best result. At Final stage we got efficient result of EMG Signal which is specially used in knee joint flexors and knee joint extensors. This system is also used for the Neuro surgeons, doctors, scientist and manufacturer who can work on the EMG signal processing, rehabilitation research and who can work mainly on the Transfemoral amputees. REFERENCES
[1] Alberto L. Delis, J. L. Azevedo, F. Rocha, Development of A Myoelectric Controller based on Knee Angle Estimation, BIODEVICES - International Conference on Biomedical Electronics and Devices, 2009. M. Machado, P. Flores, J.C. Claro, J.Ambrsio, M. Silva, A. Completo , Development of a planar multibody model of the human knee joint, Nonlinear Dyn 60: 459478, DOI 10.1007/s11071-0099608-7, 2010. Dr. Scott Day, Important Factors in surface EMG measurement,2002 http://www.andrewsterian.com//214/EMG_measurement_and_recordin g.pdf Measurement of human leg joint angle through motion based on electromyography (EMG) signal Dr. Yousif I. Al-Mashhadany2, IJCCCE, and VOL.11. NO.2, 2011. O. Bida, Influence of Electromyogram (EMG) Amplitude Processing in EMG Torque Estimation, M.Sc Thesis, WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, Electrical Engineering, January 2005. A. Karnik, Performance of TCP congestion control with rate feedback: TCP/ABR and rate adaptive TCP/IP, M. Eng. thesis, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India, Jan. 1999. J. Padhye, V. Firoiu, and D. Towsley, A stochastic model of TCP Reno congestion avoidance and control, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, CMPSCI Tech. Rep. 99-02, 1999.

Fig 9 Full Wave Bridge Rectifier

Fig. 10 Hardware of EMG Sensor

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7] Fig 11 EMG Signal Acquired from Biceps Femoris (Short Head) [8] [9] [10]

Books:Joseph D. Bronzino, The Biomedical Engineering Handbook, 2nd Edn, CRC Press LLC, ISBN: 0-8493-0461-X, 2000. R S Khandpur, Handbook of Biomedical Instrumentation, twelfth reprint Tata Mc Grew hill company Ltd, 2008. Op-amps and Linear integrated circuits, Ramakant A.Gayakwad, Prentice Hall, 2000.

Fig 12 Rectified EMG

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