Thesis Project Form
Title (tentative): Development and test of a myoelectric interface to reduce abnormalities in muscles activationsThesis advisor(s): Casadio Maura, A. Canessa, A. Bellitto, G. Marchesi, M. Pagano | E-mail: |
Address: Via Opera Pia 13, 16145 Genova (ITALY) | Phone: (+39) 010 33 52749 |
Description
Motivation and application domain
Abnormalities in muscles activations are common symptoms of many neurological disorders, such as Stroke, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Spinal-Cord Injury (SCI), resulting in uncorrected activation patterns that may additionally hamper an already unstable condition. Together with the traditional approaches in treating muscles abnormalities (i.e. drug administration or botulinum toxin injection), Myoelectric control systems (MCSs) are designed to directly take EMG-signals from patients’ bodies as control signals for the rehabilitation intervention. Moreover, the use of EMG-signals aims at recovering correct muscles activations patterns, preventing injuries or training patients after surgery and, also, enables to create engaging rehabilitation exercises to increase the patient motivation. This project aims at assessing the potential of a myoelectric interface to reduce abnormalities in muscles activations.
General objectives and main activities
The proposed thesis has 2 main aims:
- Aim 1: Development of both a low-cost technology enabling the collection of EMG data and an interface enabling the signal processing and mapping into a variety of control tasks, including the control of video games.
- Aim 2: Testing the myoelectric control system. A first evaluation will be performed with healthy participants to assess the effectiveness of the interface and control systems, then a second evaluation will be performed with spinal cord injury survivors
- Aim 1: Development of both a low-cost technology enabling the collection of EMG data and an interface enabling the signal processing and mapping into a variety of control tasks, including the control of video games.
- Aim 2: Testing the myoelectric control system. A first evaluation will be performed with healthy participants to assess the effectiveness of the interface and control systems, then a second evaluation will be performed with spinal cord injury survivors
Training Objectives (technical/analytical tools, experimental methodologies)
The student will learn to:
1. Program a Microcontroller for signals acquisition.
2. Process and Analyze EMG signals.
3. Develop the control of an external device based on muscles signals.
4. Improve the knowledge of C#/MATLAB and statistical analysis.
1. Program a Microcontroller for signals acquisition.
2. Process and Analyze EMG signals.
3. Develop the control of an external device based on muscles signals.
4. Improve the knowledge of C#/MATLAB and statistical analysis.
Place(s) where the thesis work will be carried out: DIBRIS & Ospedale Santa Corona (Pietra Ligure)
Additional information
Pre-requisite abilities/skills: nota: la tesi e' stata assegnata a giugno avevo indicato lat esista ma pere errore materiale non avevo cambiato lo stato
Maximum number of students: 1