Regressing Grasping Using Force Myography: An Exploratory Study

Background: Partial hand amputation forms more than 90% of all upper limb amputations. This amputation has a notable efect on the amputee’s life. To improve the quality of life for partial hand amputees diferent prosthesis options, including externallypowered prosthesis, have been investigated. The focus of this work is to explore force myography (FMG) as a technique for regressing grasping movement accompanied by wrist position variations. This study can lay the groundwork for a future investigation of FMG as a technique for controlling externally-powered prostheses continuously. Methods: Ten able-bodied participants performed three hand movements while their wrist was fxed in one of six predefned positions. The angle between Thumb and Index fnger (θTI), and Thumb and Middle fnger (θTM) were calculated as measures of grasping movements. Two approaches were examined for estimating each angle: (i) one regression model, trained on data from all wrist positions and hand movements; (ii) a classifer that identifed the wrist position followed by a separate regression model for each wrist position. The possibility of training the system using a limited number of wrist positions and testing it on all positions was also investigated. Results: The frst approach had a correlation of determination (R2) of 0.871 for θTI and R2 θTM = 0.941. Using the second approach R2 θTI = 0.874 and R2 θTM = 0.942 were obtained. The frst approach is over two times faster than the second approach while having similar performance; thus the frst approach was selected to investigate the efect of the wrist position variations. Training with 6 or 5 wrist positions yielded results which were not statistically signifcant. A statistically signifcant decrease in performance resulted when less than fve wrist positions were used for training. Conclusions: The results indicate the potential of FMG to regress grasping movement, accompanied by wrist position variations, with a regression model for each angle. Also, it is necessary to include more than one wrist position in the training phase.