• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.1
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• pp.194-199
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• 2016

EMG has specific information which is related to movements according to the activities of muscles. Therefore, users can intuitively control a prosthesis. For this reason, biosignals are very useful and convenient in this kind of application. Bioimpednace also provides specific information about movements like EMG. In this study, we used both EMG and bioimpedance to classify the typical hand gestures such as hand open, hand close, no motion (rest), supination, and pronation. Nine able-bodied subjects and one amputee were used as experimental data set. The accuracy was $98{\pm}1.9%$ when 2 bio-impedance and 8 EMG channels were used together for normal subjects. The number of EMG channels affected the accuracy, but it was stable when more than 5 channels were used. For the amputee, the accuracy is higher when we use both of them than when using only EMG. Therefore, accurate and stable hand motion estimation is possible by adding bioimepedance which shows structural information and EMG together.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.80-87
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• 1995

The purpose of this case study was to introduce a myoelectric hand prosthesis for upper extremity amputee and prosthetic training program. Limb loss can result from disease, injury, or congenital causes. Trauma has been increasingly important role as the cause of amputaion in young, vigorous, and otherwise healthy individuals. The higher the level of amputation the greater the functional loss of the part, and the more the amputee must depend on the prostheis for fuction and cosmesis. Myoelectrical control of prostheses is a recent development and has been steadily gaining in clinical use over the past 20 years. Such a prosthesis uses signals from muscle contraction within the stump to activate a battery driven moter that operates specific component fuctions of the prosthesis. This twenty years old male case was operated a right above-elbow amputation due to tracffic accident and admitted to Yonsei Rehabilitaion hospital for the preprosthetic and prosthetic training. The case was able to successfully complete his myoelectric hand prosthesis training in the February of 1995.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.705-710
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• 2012

Research involving discomfort or pain related to haptic vibratory stimulation the for prosthesis users of myoelectrical hand is very lacking. Our objective of this study was to evaluate the displeasure and sensitivity of areas in forearm using vibration stimulation system between upper limb amputees and non-amputees. Twenty transradial amputees and forty non-amputees (20 youth, 20 elderly) were involved. We set up custom-made vibration stimulation system including eight actuators (4 medial parts and 4 lateral parts) and GUI-based acquisition system, to investigate changes of residual somatosensory sensibility and displeasure at proximal 25% of forearm. Eight vibration actuators were attached to the circumference of proximal 25% point of forearm at regular intervals. Sensitivity tests were used to stimulate the 120Hz and discomfort experiment was used to 37 ~ 223Hz. The subjective responses were evaluated by 10 point scale. The results showed that both groups were similar in sensitive areas. Response at around of radius was most sensitive than other areas in all subjects. Elderly group do not appear discomfort of vibrotactile; however, youth group and amputee presented discomfort of vibrotactile. Prosthesis with a vibrotactile feedback system should be developed considering the sensitivity. Furthermore, Future studies should investigate the scope of application of that principle.

• Proceedings of the KIPE Conference
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• 2007.07a
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• pp.247-249
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• 2007

This paper proposes a dry-type surface myoelectric sensor for the myoelectric hand prosthesis. The designed surface myoelectric sensor is composed of skin interface and processing circuits. The skin interface has one reference and two input electrodes, and the reference electrode is located in the center of two input electrodes. Considering the conduction velocity and the median frequency of the myoelectric signal, the inter-electrode distance (IED) between two input electrodes as 18mm, 20mm, and 22mm is selected. The signal processing circuit consists of a differential amplifier with a band pass filter, a band rejection filter for rejecting 60㎐ power-line noise, amplifier, and a level circuit. Using SUS440, six prototype skin interface with different reference electrode shape and IED is fabricated, and their output characteristics are evaluated by output signal obtained from the forearm of a healthy subject. The experimental results show that the skin interface with parallel bar shape and the 18mm IED has a good output characteristics. The fabricated dry-type surface myoelectric sensor is evaluated for the upper-limb amputee.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.393-399
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• 2023

Upper limb amputees wear an upper limb prosthesis for both aesthetic purposes and functional necessity, and in particular, in the case of amputee with both hands, it is essential to wear a myoelectric prosthetic hand capable of gripping action. The prosthetic hand operated by the EMG signal of the remaining muscles is a public insurance benefit item of the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance, and test method standards are needed to be developed for the safety of the user and the effectiveness of the product performance. In this study, we developed systems for measuring the gripping force of myoelectric hand prosthesis by a load cell and for durability test of the prosthesis over repeated use with a proximity sensor, and propose a test method standard. Since the international test method standard has not yet been established, it is expected that Korea will be able to play a leading role in this standardization field in the future.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.621-632
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• 2009

The purpose of this study was to analyze the physical characteristic of the wheelchair users by directly measuring the disabled men who use a wheelchair and to classify body types. The subjects were 178 male wheelchair users 20-69 years range of age. The results of this study were as follows. The cause of disability was classified into four groups; Poliomyelitis(P), Spinal Cord Injury(S), Cerebral Palsy(C), Amputee(A). There was a remarkable difference in the physical characteristic of the wheelchair users due to their cause of disability. A have greater values in all the dimensions. P have the largest drop values and smaller values in the lower body dimensions. S have greater values in the height of upper body trunk, back interscye length, and chest circumference, whereas smaller values in waist front length and thigh circumference. C have smaller values in most body dimensions except circumference of lower limb. By the factor analysis on the anthropometric data came out the result to be eight factors. The result of cluster analysis using factor scores shows the body types of wheelchair users can be divided into four body types; PY, RBB, TBP, RA. PY type is short and has the largest drop values, whereas RBB type tends to have the smallest drop values. TBP type is tall and the torso tends to be larger than those of the other types. RA type has smaller values in front body dimensions and moderate values in other dimensions. The diversity in body types should be considered among the wheelchair users.

• Journal of the Institute of Convergence Signal Processing
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.67-76
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• 2024

Various types of assistive devices have been developed for upper limb amputees over the years, with myoelectric prosthesis particularly aimed at improving user convenience by enabling a range of hand gestures beyond simple grasping, tailored to the size and shape of objects. In this study, we developed a five-finger myoelectric prosthesis mimicking human hand size and finger movements, utilizing motor and worm gear mechanisms for stable and independent operation. Based on this, we designed a control system for independent finger control through electromyographic signal input, proposed a state transition-based hand gesture conversion algorithm by selecting representative eight hand gestures and defining conversion condition parameters. We introduced training and usability evaluation methods, and conducted usability assessments among upper limb amputees using dedicated tools, confirming the potential for commercial application of the algorithm and observing adaptive capabilities and high performance through iterative evaluations.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.550-557
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• 2006

This paper proposes a dry-type surface myoelectric sensor for the myoelectric hand prosthesis. The designed surface myoelectric sensor is composed of skin interface and processing circuits. The skin interface has one reference and two input electrodes, and the reference electrode is located in the center of two input electrodes. In this paper is proposed two types of sensors with the circle- and bar-shaped reference electrode, but all input electrodes are the bar-shaped. The metal material of the electrodes is the stainless steel (SUS440) that endures sweat and wet conditions. Considering the conduction velocity and the median frequency of the myoelectric signal, the inter-electrode distance (IED) between two input electrodes as 18mm, 20mm, and 22mm is selected. The signal processing circuit consists of a differential amplifier with a band pass filter, a band rejection filter for rejecting 60Hz power-line noise, amplifiers, and a mean absolute value(MAV) circuit. Using SUS440, six prototype skin interface with different reference electrode shape and IED is fabricated, and their output characteristics are evaluated by output signal obtained from the forearm of a healthy subject. The experimental results show that the skin interface with parallel bar shape and the 18mm IED has a good output characteristics. The fabricated dry-type surface myoelectric sensor is evaluated for the upper-limb amputee.