Comparison of EMG-Force Calibration Protocols for Myoelectric Control of Prostheses

The surface electromyogram (EMG) is used as a control source for limb prostheses. When developing hand-wrist prostheses control schemes with able-bodied subjects, it is common to relate forearm EMG to hand-wrist forces/moments using supervised models. However, subjects with unilateral limb absence cannot produce such forces. Thus, we contrasted use of “output” alternatives from the force generated by the sound side in “mirror” movements [ 1 – 2 ], or directly using a target followed with their limb-absent side [ 3 – 4 ].