A wearable neural interface for detecting and decoding attempted hand movements in a person with tetraplegia.

Abstract

We are developing a wearable neural interface based on high-density surface electromyography (HDEMG) for detecting and decoding signals from spared motor units in the forearms of people with tetraplegia after spinal cord injury (SCI). A lightweight, form-fitting garment containing 150 disc electrodes and covering the entire forearm was used to map the myoelectric activity of forearm muscles during a wide range of voluntary tasks of a person with chronic tetraplegia after SCI (C5 motor and C6 sensory American Spinal Injury Association Impairment Scale B spinal cord injury). Despite exhibiting no overt finger motion, myoelectric signals were detectable for attempted movements of individual digits and were highly discriminable. Motor unit decomposition was used to identify the activity of >30 motor neurons, active specifically during rotation, pronation of the wrist (4 units), and flexion of the elbow joint (7 units), and during attempted movements of individual hand digits (1-5 units). In addition, we performed a neural connectivity analysis based on the power of the common oscillations of the identified motor neurons in the delta (~5Hz), alpha (~6-12 Hz), and beta bands (~15-30 Hz). This analysis showed clear common synaptic inputs to the identified motor neurons in all the analyzed frequency bands. This neural interface offers a new potential for the control of assistive technologies, whereby the motor neurons spared after SCI may serve as a direct readout of motor intent that allows proportional control over several distinct degrees of freedom. Moreover, this framework can be used to study the reorganization and recovery of spinal networks after injury and rehabilitation.

• Authors: Jordyn Ting, Dario Farina, Douglas J Weber, Alessandro Del Vecchio, David Friedenberg, Monica Liu, Caroline Schoenewald, Devapratim Sarma, Jennifer Collinger, Sam Colachis, Gaurav Sharma
• Journal: Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual International Conference (Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc) Vol. 2019 Pg. 1930-1933 (Jul 2019) ISSN: 2694-0604 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 31946276 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Topics

• Electromyography
• Hand
• Humans
• Motor Neurons (physiology)
• Movement
• Muscle, Skeletal (physiopathology)
• Quadriplegia (physiopathology)
• Spinal Cord Injuries (physiopathology)
• Wearable Electronic Devices