EMG-Based Muscle Torque Estimation for FES Control System Design

This study was designed to investigate the feasibility to utilize the electromyogram (EMG) for estimating the muscle torque. The muscle torque estimation plays an important role in functional electrical stimulation because electrical stimulation causes muscles to fatigue much faster than voluntary contraction, and the stimulation intensity should then be modified to keep the muscle torque within the desired range. We employed the neural network method which was trained using the major EMG parameters and the corresponding knee extensor torque measured and extracted during isometric contractions. The experimental results suggested that (1) our neural network algorithm and protocol was feasible to be adopted in a real-time feedback control of the stimulation intensity, (2) the training data needed to cover the entire range of the measured value, (3) different amplitudes and frequencies made little difference to the estimation quality, and (4) a single input to the neural network led to a better estimation rather than a combination of two or three. Since this study was done under a limited contraction condition, the results need more experiments under many different contraction conditions, such as during walking, for justification.