Estimation of sagittal-plane whole-body angular momentum during perturbed and unperturbed gait using simplified body models.

Human whole-body angular momentum (WBAM) during walking typically follows a consistent pattern, making it a valuable indicator of the state of balance. However, calculating WBAM is labor-intensive, where the kinematic data for all body segments is needed, that is, based on a full-body model. In this study, we focused on selecting appropriate segments for estimating sagittal-plane WBAM during both unperturbed and perturbed gaits, which were segments with significant angular momentum contributions. Those major segments were constructed as a simplified model, and the sagittal-plane WBAM based on a simplified model was calculated by combining the angular momenta of the selected segments. We found that the WBAM estimated by seven-segment models, incorporating the head & torso (HT) and all lower limb segments, provided an average correlation coefficient of 0.99 and relative angular momentum percentage of 96.8% and exhibited the most similar sensitivity to external perturbations compared to the full-body model-based WBAM. Additionally, our findings revealed that the rotational angular momenta (RAM) of lower limb segments were much smaller than their translational angular momenta (TAM). The pair-wise comparisons between simplified models with and without RAMs of lower body segments were observed with no significant difference, indicating that RAMs of lower body segments are neglectable. This may further simplify the WBAM estimation based on the seven-segment model, eliminating the need to estimate the angular velocities of lower limb segments. These findings have practical implications for future studies of using inertial measurement units (IMUs) for estimating WBAM, as our results can help reduce the number of required sensors and simplify kinematics measurement.

Quantifying Quality of Reaching Movements Longitudinally Post-Stroke: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Disambiguation of behavioral restitution from compensation is important to better understand recovery of upper limb motor control post-stroke and subsequently design better interventions. Measuring quality of movement (QoM) during standardized performance assays and functional tasks using kinematic and kinetic metrics potentially allows for this disambiguation. OBJECTIVES: To identify longitudinal studies that used kinematic and/or kinetic metrics to investigate post-stroke recovery of reaching and assess whether these studies distinguish behavioral restitution from compensation. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted using the databases PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Wiley/Cochrane Library up to July 1st, 2020. Studies were identified if they performed longitudinal kinematic and/or kinetic measurements during reaching, starting within the first 6 months post-stroke. RESULTS: Thirty-two longitudinal studies were identified, which reported a total of forty-six different kinematic metrics. Although the majority investigated improvements in kinetics or kinematics to quantify recovery of QoM, none of these studies explicitly addressed the distinction between behavioral restitution and compensation. One study obtained kinematic metrics for both performance assays and a functional task. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the growing number of kinematic and kinetic studies on post-stroke recovery, longitudinal studies that explicitly seek to delineate between behavioral restitution and compensation are still lacking in the literature. To rectify this situation, future studies should measure kinematics and/or kinetics during performance assays to isolate restitution and during a standardized functional task to determine the contributions of restitution and compensation.

Detection of the Intention to Grasp During Reaching in Stroke Using Inertial Sensing.

To support stroke survivors in activities of daily living, wearable soft-robotic gloves are being developed. An essential feature for use in daily life is detection of movement intent to trigger actuation without substantial delays. To increase efficacy, the intention to grasp should be detected as soon as possible, while other movements are not detected instead. Therefore, the possibilities to classify reach and grasp movements of stroke survivors, and to detect the intention of grasp movements, were investigated using inertial sensing. Hand and wrist movements of 10 stroke survivors were analyzed during reach and grasp movements using inertial sensing and a Support Vector Machine classifier. The highest mean accuracies of 96.8% and 83.3% were achieved for single- and multi-user classification respectively. Accuracies up to 90% were achieved when using 80% of the movement length, or even only 50% of the movement length after choosing the optimal kernel per person. This would allow for an earlier detection of 300-750ms, but at the expense of accuracy. In conclusion, inertial sensing combined with the Support Vector Machine classifier is a promising method for actuation of grasp-supporting devices to aid stroke survivors in activities of daily living. Online implementation should be investigated in future research.

The effect of metabolic alkalosis on the ventilatory response in healthy subjects.

BACKGROUND: Patients with acute respiratory failure may develop respiratory acidosis. Metabolic compensation by bicarbonate production or retention results in posthypercapnic alkalosis with an increased arterial bicarbonate concentration. The hypothesis of this study was that elevated plasma bicarbonate levels decrease respiratory drive and minute ventilation. METHODS: In an intervention study in 10 healthy subjects the ventilatory response using a hypercapnic ventilatory response (HCVR) test was assessed, before and after administration of high dose sodium bicarbonate. Total dose of sodiumbicarbonate was 1000 ml 8.4% in 3 days. RESULTS: Plasma bicarbonate increased from 25.2 ±â€¯2.2 to 29.2 ±â€¯1.9 mmol/L. With increasing inspiratory CO2 pressure during the HCVR test, RR, Vt, Pdi, EAdi and VE increased. The clinical ratio ΔVE/ΔPetCO2 remained unchanged, but Pdi, EAdi and VE were significantly lower after bicarbonate administration for similar levels of inspired CO2. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that in healthy subjects metabolic alkalosis decreases the neural respiratory drive and minute ventilation, as a response to inspiratory CO2.

Detection of the intention to grasp during reach movements.

INTRODUCTION: Soft-robotic gloves have been developed to enhance grip to support stroke patients during daily life tasks. Studies showed that users perform tasks faster without the glove as compared to with the glove. It was investigated whether it is possible to detect grasp intention earlier than using force sensors to enhance the performance of the glove. METHODS: This was studied by distinguishing reach-to-grasp movements from reach movements without the intention to grasp, using minimal inertial sensing and machine learning. Both single-user and multi-user support vector machine classifiers were investigated. Data were gathered during an experiment with healthy subjects, in which they were asked to perform grasp and reach movements. RESULTS: Experimental results show a mean accuracy of 98.2% for single-user and of 91.4% for multi-user classification, both using only two sensors: one on the hand and one on the middle finger. Furthermore, it was found that using only 40% of the trial length, an accuracy of 85.3% was achieved, which would allow for an earlier prediction of grasp during the reach movement by 1200 ms. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these promising results, further research will be done to investigate the possibility to use classification of the movements in stroke patients.

Detection of the onset of gait initiation using kinematic sensors and EMG in transfemoral amputees.

In this study we determined if detection of the onset of gait initiation in transfemoral amputees can be useful for voluntary control of upper leg prostheses. From six transfemoral amputees inertial sensor data and EMG were measured at the prosthetic leg during gait initiation. First, initial movement was detected from the inertial sensor data. Subsequently it was determined whether EMG could predict initial movement before detection based on the inertial sensors with comparable consistency as the inertial sensors. From the inertial sensors the initial movement can be determined. If the prosthetic leg leads, the upper leg accelerometer data was able to detect initial movement best. If the intact leg leads the upper leg gyroscope data performed best. Inertial sensors at the upper leg in general showed detections at the same time or earlier than those at the lower leg. EMG can predict initial movement up to a 138 ms in advance, when the prosthetic leg leads. One subject showed consistent EMG onset up to 248 ms before initial movement in the intact leg leading condition. A new method to detect initial movement from inertial sensors was presented and can be useful for additional prosthetic control. EMG measured at the prosthetic leg can be used for prediction of gait initiation when the prosthetic leg is leading, but for the intact leg leading condition this will not be of additional value.

Daily-life monitoring of stroke survivors motor performance: the INTERACTION sensing system.

The objective of the INTERACTION Eu project is to develop and validate an unobtrusive and modular system for monitoring daily life activities, physical interactions with the environment and for training upper and lower extremity motor function in stroke subjects. This paper describes the development and preliminary testing of the project sensing platform made of sensing shirt, trousers, gloves and shoes. Modular prototypes were designed and built considering the minimal set of inertial, force and textile sensors that may enable an efficient monitoring of stroke patients. The single sensing elements are described and the results of their preliminary lab-level testing are reported.

Intention detection of gait initiation using EMG and kinematic data.

Gait initiation in transfemoral amputees (TFA) is different from non-amputees. This is mainly caused by the lack of stability and push-off from the prosthetic leg. Adding control and artificial push-off to the prosthesis may therefore be beneficial to TFA. In this study the feasibility of real-time intention detection of gait initiation was determined by mimicking the TFA situation in non-amputees. EMG and inertial sensor data was measured in 10 non-amputees. Only data available in TFA was used to determine if gait initiation can be predicted in time to control a transfemoral prosthesis to generate push-off and stability. Toe-off and heel-strike of the leading limb are important parameters to be detected, to control a prosthesis and to time push-off. The results show that toe-off and heel-strike of the leading limb can be detected using EMG and kinematic data in non-amputees 130-260 ms in advance. This leaves enough time to control a prosthesis. Based on these results we hypothesize that similar results can be found in TFA, allowing for adequate control of a prosthesis during gait initiation.

Variable stiffness actuated prosthetic knee to restore knee buckling during stance: a modeling study.

Most modern intelligent knee prosthesis use dampers to modulate dynamic behavior and prevent excessive knee flexion, but they dissipate energy and do not assist in knee extension. Energy efficient variable stiffness control (VSA) can reduce the energy consumption yet effectively modulate the dynamic behavior and use stored energy during flexion to assist in subsequent extension. A principle design of energy efficient VSA in a prosthetic knee is proposed and analyzed for the specific case of rejection of a disturbed stance phase. The concept is based on the principle that the output stiffness of a spring can be changed without changing the energy stored in the elastic elements of the spring. The usability of this concept to control a prosthetic knee is evaluated using a model. Part of the stance phase of the human leg was modeled by a double pendulum. Specifically the rejection of a common disturbance of transfemoral prosthetic gait, an unlocked knee at heel strike, was evaluated. The ranges of spring stiffnesses were determined such that the angular characteristics of a normal stance phase were preserved, but disturbances could also be rejected. The simulations predicted that energy efficient VSA can be useful for the control of prosthetic knees.

Vibro- and electrotactile user feedback on hand opening for myoelectric forearm prostheses.

Many of the currently available myoelectric forearm prostheses stay unused because of the lack of sensory feedback. Vibrotactile and electrotactile stimulation have high potential to provide this feedback. In this study, performance of a grasping task is investigated for different hand opening feedback conditions on 15 healthy subjects and validated on three patients. The opening of a virtual hand was controlled by a scroll wheel. Feedback about hand opening was given via an array of eight vibrotactile or electrotactile stimulators placed on the forearm, relating to eight hand opening positions. A longitudinal and transversal orientation of the array and four feedback conditions were investigated: no feedback, visual feedback, feedback through vibrotactile or electrotactile stimulation, and addition of an extra stimulator for touch feedback. No influence of array orientation was shown for all outcome parameters (duration of the task, the percentage of correct hand openings, the mean position error, and the percentage deviations up to one position). Vibrotactile stimulation enhances the performance compared to the nonfeedback conditions. The addition of touch feedback further increases the performance, but at the cost of an increased duration. The same effects were found for the patient group, but the task duration was around 25% larger.

Vibrotactile stimulation of the upper leg: effects of location, stimulation method and habituation.

In this study vibrotactile stimulation of the upper leg and its usability for feedback was tested. Three experiments were performed on ten healthy subjects using pager motors. The first experiment was to test the perception of the vibration at different frequencies and at different locations of the upper leg. The second experiment tested the ability of subjects to estimate location and number of stimuli in an array. In addition it was evaluated whether simultaneous or sequential stimulation is better interpretable. Thirdly the habituation of the vibration was determined. The experiments showed that vibrotactile stimulation is well perceived and can be useful in providing feedback on the upper leg. Further experiments are needed to determine the effectiveness of vibrotactile stimulation for feedback in trans-femoral prostheses.

Load identification during object handling.

In this paper a new concept to identify environmental loads during the interaction with the human body by sensing interface forces and movement is proposed. Mass and spring loads were moved by hand over a fixed height difference. Kinematic and kinetic quantities were measured between the hand and the load using an instrumented handle. Force was measured using a force transducer module, movement was measured using an accelerometer and rate gyroscope. Under the condition that the human body was actively generating force at the load, while the load was passive, the dynamic characteristics of the load could be estimated. The estimated parameter values were compared to their specified values and appeared to be accurate within 4% for both mass and spring loads.

Vagus nerve stimulation for epilepsy activates the vocal folds maximally at therapeutic levels.

PURPOSE: Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for medically refractory epilepsy can give hoarseness due to stimulation of the recurrent laryngeal nerve. For a group of VNS-therapy users this side-effect interferes severely with their daily activities. Our goal was to investigate the severity of intra-operative VNS-related vocal fold contraction at different pulse widths and current output parameters. We investigated electromyographic and morphometric alterations on the vocal folds during VNS. METHODS: Vocal fold EMG experiments were conducted intra-operatively during the implantation of a VNS system. During surgery the VNS pulse generator was programmed to stimulate at different pulse durations. At each pulse width the EMG-threshold current was determined by electrical stimulation of the vagus nerve with increasing stimulation currents. Laryngostroboscopic examination was performed after surgery to analyze the effects of spontaneous stimulation on the larynx. RESULTS: The vocal fold EMG and morphodynamic changes in the larynx have been analyzed in eight patients. In all patients left vocal fold EMG-threshold was between 0.25 and 0.50 mA. Pulse duration had little influence on the EMG-threshold level. Vocal fold EMG saturation levels were reached between 0.75 and 1.00 mA. Video stroboscopic monitoring showed that stimulation induced an adductory spasm of either the ipsilateral vocal fold or the vestibular fold, and was present remarkably irrespective of the presence of hoarseness. CONCLUSIONS: VNS causes pronounced effects on the vocal folds even at low stimulation amplitudes. At therapeutic levels even at the lowest stimulation pulse durations, the vocal fold contract, however, this does not necessarily give hoarseness.

Inertial Gait Phase Detection for control of a drop foot stimulator Inertial sensing for gait phase detection.

An Inertial Gait Phase Detection system was developed to replace heel switches and footswitches currently being used for the triggering of drop foot stimulators. A series of four algorithms utilising accelerometers and gyroscopes individually and in combination were tested and initial results are shown. Sensors were positioned on the outside of the upper shank. Tests were performed on data gathered from a subject, sufferer of stroke, implanted with a drop foot stimulator and triggered with the current trigger, the heel switch. Data tested includes a variety of activities representing everyday life. Flat surface walking, rough terrain and carpet walking show 100% detection and the ability of the algorithms to ignore non-gait events such as weight shifts. Timing analysis is performed against the current triggering method, the heel switch. After evaluating the heel switch timing against a reference system, namely the Vicon 370 marker and force plates system. Initial results show a close correlation between the current trigger detection and the inertial sensor based triggering algorithms. Algorithms were tested for stairs up and stairs down. Best results are observed for algorithms using gyroscope data. Algorithms were designed using threshold techniques for lowest possible computational load and with least possible sensor components to minimize power requirements and to allow for potential future implantation of sensor system.

Control of triceps surae stimulation based on shank orientation using a uniaxial gyroscope during gait.

This article presents a stimulation control method using a uniaxial gyroscope measuring angular velocity of the shank in the sagittal plane, to control functional electrical stimulation of the triceps surae to improve push-off of stroke subjects during gait. The algorithm is triggered during each swing phase of gait when the angular velocity of the shank is relatively high. Subsequently, the start of the stance phase is detected by a change of sign of the gyroscope signal at approximately the same time as heel strike. Stimulation is triggered when the shank angle reaches a preset value since the beginning of stance. The change of angle is determined by integrating angular velocity from the moment of change of sign. The results show that the real-time reliability of stimulation control was at least 95% for four of the five stroke subjects tested, two of which were 100% reliable. For the remaining subject, the reliability was increased from 50% found during the experiment, to 99% during offline processing. Our conclusion is that a uniaxial gyroscope on the shank is a simple, more reliable alternative to the heel switch for the purpose of restoring push-off of stroke subjects during gait.

Proprioceptive perturbations of stability during gait.

Through recent studies, the role of proprioceptors in reactions to perturbations during gait has been finally somewhat better understood. The input from spindle afferents has been investigated with tendon taps, vibration and other forms of muscle stretches, including some resembling natural perturbations (stumbling, slips, and ankle inversions). It was found that activation of spindle afferents produces short-latency response (SLR), consistent with a fast spinal pathway. These reflexes induce relatively minor activation in the stretched muscles. A central question is whether stretch reflexes can occur for stimuli that are quite remote. Thus, a new study was made to examine whether foot sole vibration is able to elicit reflex responses in upper-leg muscles, for example by conduction of vibrations throughout the whole leg. SLR responses were indeed found not only in lower- but also in upper-leg muscles. Similarly during stumbling, SLR are observed throughout the whole limb, although the primary perturbation occurs at foot level. After the SLR, much stronger activations usually occur, with latencies (85 or 120ms) well below those seen in voluntary contractions. These late responses are much more selective and presumably linked to the maintenance of stability. The role of the I(b) afferents from the Golgi tendon organs (GTO) is less clear. From animal work, it is known that these afferents are very sensitive to active muscle contraction and that they play a role in providing reinforcing feedback to extensors during the stance phase. The available evidence supports this notion in humans but lack of selective activation methods precludes more conclusive confirmation.

Ambulatory measurement of arm orientation.

In order to evaluate the impact of neuromuscular disorders affecting the upper extremities, the functional use of the arm need to be evaluated during daily activities. A system suitable for measuring arm kinematics should be ambulatory and not interfere with activities of daily living. A measurement system based on miniature accelerometers and gyroscopes is adequate because the sensors are small and do not suffer from line of sight problems. A disadvantage of such sensors is the cumulative drift around the vertical and the problems with aligning the sensor with the segment. A method that uses constraints in the elbow to measure the orientation of the lower arm with respect to the upper arm is described. This requires a calibration method to determine the exact orientation of each of the sensors with respect to the segment. Some preliminary measurements were analyzed and they indicated a strong reduction in orientation error around the vertical. It seemed that the accuracy of the method is limited by the accuracy of the sensor to segment calibration.

Measuring orientation of human body segments using miniature gyroscopes and accelerometers.

In the medical field, there is a need for small ambulatory sensor systems for measuring the kinematics of body segments. Current methods for ambulatory measurement of body orientation have limited accuracy when the body moves. The aim of the paper was to develop and validate a method for accurate measurement of the orientation of human body segments using an inertial measurement unit (IMU). An IMU containing three single-axis accelerometers and three single-axis micromachined gyroscopes was assembled in a rectangular box, sized 20 x 20 x 30 mm. The presented orientation estimation algorithm continuously corrected orientation estimates obtained by mathematical integration of the 3D angular velocity measured using the gyroscopes. The correction was performed using an inclination estimate continuously obtained using the signal of the 3D accelerometer. This reduces the integration drift that originates from errors in the angular velocity signal. In addition, the gyroscope offset was continuously recalibrated. The method was realised using a Kalman filter that took into account the spectra of the signals involved as well as a fluctuating gyroscope offset. The method was tested for movements of the pelvis, trunk and forearm. Although the problem of integration drift around the global vertical continuously increased in the order of 0.50 degrees s(-1), the inclination estimate was accurate within 3 degrees RMS. It was shown that the gyroscope offset could be estimated continuously during a trial. Using an initial offset error of 1 rad s(-1), after 2 min the off-set error was roughly 5% of the original offset error. Using the Kalman filter described, an accurate and robust system for ambulatory motion recording can be realised.

Surface electromyography analysis for variable gait.

The surface electromyographic (SEMG) signal obtained during gait is often presented as the SEMG profile, the average SEMG activation pattern during one gait cycle. A disadvantage of this method is that it omits the step-to-step variability of the timing of the muscle activation patterns that might be relevant information as a performance measure of motor control and balance. In this paper, a method was used in which every step in the gait cycle could be analysed with respect to the timing of the muscle activation. For this purpose, the approximated generalised likelihood (AGLR) algorithm was implemented and tested. Results of the simulations show that the AGLR was much more accurate than a standard threshold criterion. Timing parameters could be calculated from a SEMG recording during gait and a measure for symmetry and coordination could be extracted. The amplitude distribution within and outside defined bursts is also presented to avoid the less precise classification into on and off patterns.

Three dimensional inertial sensing of foot movements for automatic tuning of a two-channel implantable drop-foot stimulator.

A three dimensional inertial sensing system for measuring foot movements during gait is proposed and tested. It can form the basis for an automated tuning system for a two-channel implantable drop-foot stimulator. The foot orientation and position during the swing phase of gait can be reconstructed on the basis of three-dimensional measurement of acceleration and angular velocity, using initial and final conditions during mid-stance. The foot movements during gait of one stroke person using the implanted two-channel stimulator were evaluated for several combinations of stimulation parameters for both channels. The reconstructed foot movements during gait in this person indicated that the channel stimulating the deep peroneal nerve contributes mainly to dorsiflexion and provides some reduction of inversion seen without stimulation, while the channel activating the superficial peroneal nerve mainly provides additional reduction of inversion. This agrees with anatomical knowledge about the function of the muscles activated by both branches of the peroneal nerve. The inertial sensor method is expected to be useful for the clinical evaluation of foot movements during gait supported by the two-channel drop-foot stimulator. Furthermore, it is expected to be applicable for the automated balancing of the two stimulation channels to ensure optimal support of gait.