A wearable electromyography-controlled functional electrical stimulation system improves balance, gait function, and symmetry in older adults.

BACKGROUND: Wearable technologies have been developed for healthy aging. The technology for electromyography (EMG)-controlled functional electrical stimulation (FES) systems has been developed, but research on how helpful it is in daily life has been insufficient. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of the EMG-controlled FES system on muscle morphology, balance, and gait in older adults. METHODS: Twenty-nine older adults were evaluated under two randomly assigned conditions (non-FES and FES assists). Muscle morphology, balance, gait function, and muscle effort during gait were measured using ultrasonography, a physical test, a gait analysis system, and EMG. RESULTS: The EMG-controlled FES system improved gait speed by 11.1% and cadence by 15.6% (P< 0.01). The symmetry ratio of the bilateral gastrocnemius was improved by 9.9% in the stance phase and 11.8% in the swing phase (P< 0.05). The degrees of coactivation of the knee and ankle muscles were reduced by 45.1% and 50.5%, respectively (P< 0.05). Balance improved by 6-10.7% (P< 0.01). CONCLUSION: The EMG-controlled FES system is useful for balance and gait function by increasing muscle symmetry and decreasing muscle coactivation during walking in older adults.

Volitional EMG Controlled Wearable FES System for Lower Limb Rehabilitation.

Muscle rehabilitation by functional electrical stimulation (FES) is one of the effective treatments for the patients with neuromuscular diseases. The conventional FES applications, however, have limitations that utilize predetermined or repetitive stimulation patterns with the help of experts such as physical therapists. Therefore, we propose a wearable FES system in which the stimulus intensity is dynamically controlled by the motion intention of user in this paper. The proposed FES system utilizes electromyography (EMG) and inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensors for estimating the motion intention regardless of electrical stimulation, and is designed for the lower limb rehabilitation. The overall system configurations including hardware and software are presented in this paper, and the system performance was tested by lower limb exercises, e.g., squat, heel lift, and gait.

Volitional EMG Estimation Method during Functional Electrical Stimulation by Dual-Channel Surface EMGs.

We propose a novel dual-channel electromyography (EMG) spatio-temporal differential (DESTD) method that can estimate volitional electromyography (vEMG) signals during time-varying functional electrical stimulation (FES). The proposed method uses two pairs of EMG signals from the same stimulated muscle to calculate the spatio-temporal difference between the signals. We performed an experimental study with five healthy participants to evaluate the vEMG signal estimation performance of the DESTD method and compare it with that of the conventional comb filter and Gram-Schmidt methods. The normalized root mean square error (NRMSE) values between the semi-simulated raw vEMG signal and vEMG signals which were estimated using the DESTD method and conventional methods, and the two-tailed t-test and analysis of variance were conducted. The results showed that under the stimulation of the gastrocnemius muscle with rapid and dynamically modulated stimulation intensity, the DESTD method had a lower NRMSE compared to the conventional methods (p < 0.01) for all stimulation intensities (maximum 5, 10, 15, and 20 mA). We demonstrated that the DESTD method could be applied to wearable EMG-controlled FES systems because it estimated vEMG signals more effectively compared to the conventional methods under dynamic FES conditions and removed unnecessary FES-induced EMG signals.

Isotope labeling pattern study of central carbon metabolites using GC/MS.

Determination of fluxes by (13)C tracer experiments depends on monitoring the (13)C labeling pattern of metabolites during isotope experiments. In metabolome-based (13)C metabolic flux analysis, liquid chromatography combined with mass spectrometry or tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS or LC/MS/MS, respectively) has been mainly used as an analytical platform for isotope pattern studies of central carbon metabolites. However, gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC/MS) has several advantages over LC/MS, such as high sensitivity, low cost, ease of operation, and availability of mass spectra databases for comparison. In this study, analysis of isotope pattern for central carbon metabolites using GC/MS was demonstrated. First, a proper set of mass ions for central carbon metabolites was selected based on carbon backbone information and structural isomers of mass fragment ions. A total of 34 mass fragment ions was selected and used for the quantification of 25 central carbon metabolites. Then, to quantify isotope fractions, a natural mass isotopomer library for selected mass fragment ions was constructed and subtracted from isotopomer mass spectra data. The results revealed a surprisingly high abundance of partially labeled (13)C intermediates, such as 56.4% of fructose 6-phosphate and 47.6% of dihydroxyacetone phosphate at isotopic steady state, which were generated in the pentose phosphate pathway. Finally, dynamic changes of isotope fragments of central metabolites were monitored with a U-(13)C glucose stimulus response experiment in Kluyveromyces marxianus. With a comprehensive study of isotope patterns of central carbon metabolites using GC/MS, 25 central carbon metabolites and their isotopic fractions were successfully quantified. Dynamic and precise acquisition of isotope pattern can then be used in combination with proper kinetic models to calculate metabolic fluxes.

Transcriptomic study for screening genes involved in the oxidative bioconversions of Streptomyces avermitilis.

Streptomyces avermitilis is a well known organism producing avermectin antibiotics, and has been utilized as an industrial host for oxidation bioconversion processes. Recently, gene screening strategies related to bioconversions have received much focus, as attempts are made to optimize oxidation and biodegradation pathways to maximize yield and productivity. Here, we have demonstrated the oxidative metabolisms of three molecules, daidzein, p-coumaric acid and mevastatin, where S. avermitilis converted each substrate to 3',4',7-trihydroxyisoflavone, caffeic acid and hydroxyl-mevastatin to yield 9.3, 32.5 and 15.0 %, respectively. Microarray technology was exploited to investigate genome-wide analysis of gene expression changes, which were induced upon the addition of each substrate. Cytochrome P450 hydroxylases (pteC, cyp28 and olmB), diooxygenases (xylE, cdo1 and putatives) and LuxAB-like oxygenase were identified. One of them, cyp28, was indeed a gene encoding P450 hydroxylase responsible for the oxidative reaction of daidzein. Furthermore, possible electron transfer chain (fdrC â†’ pteE â†’ pteC) supporting cytochrome P450 dependent hydroxylation of daidzein has been suggested based on the interpretation of expression profiles. The result provided a potential application of transcriptomic study on uncovering enzymes involved in oxidative bioconversions of S. avermitilis.

Production of 1,2-propanediol from glycerol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Glycerol has become an attractive carbon source in the biotechnology industry owing to its low price and reduced state. However, glycerol is rarely used as a carbon source in Saccharomyces cerevisiae because of its low utilization rate. In this study, we used glycerol as a main carbon source in S. cerevisiae to produce 1,2-propanediol. Metabolically engineered S. cerevisiae strains with overexpression of glycerol dissimilation pathway genes, including glycerol kinase (GUT1), glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GUT2), glycerol dehydrogenase (gdh), and a glycerol transporter gene (GUP1), showed increased glycerol utilization and growth rate. More significant improvement of glycerol utilization and growth rate was accomplished by introducing 1,2-propanediol pathway genes, mgs (methylglyoxal synthase) and gldA (glycerol dehydrogenase) from Escherichia coli. By engineering both glycerol dissimilation and 1,2-propanediol pathways, the glycerol utilization and growth rate were improved 141% and 77%, respectively, and a 2.19 g 1,2- propanediol/l titer was achieved in 1% (v/v) glycerolcontaining YEPD medium in engineered S. cerevisiae.

Enhanced production of 1,2-propanediol by tpi1 deletion in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae was metabolically engineered to improve 1,2-propanediol production. Deletion of the tpi1 (triosephosphate isomerase) gene in S. cerevisiae increased the carbon flux to DHAP (dihydroxylacetone phosphate) in glycolysis, resulting in increased glycerol production. Then, the mgs and gldA genes, the products of which convert DHAP to 1,2-propanediol, were introduced to the tpi1-deficient strain using a multicopy plasmid. As expected, the intracellular level of methylglyoxal was increased by introduction of the mgs gene in S. cerevisiae and that of 1,2-propanediol by introduction of both the mgs and gldA genes. As a result, 1.11 g/l of 1,2-propanediol was achieved in flask culture.