Department of Precision Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8654, Japan.
Sensors (Basel). 2024 May 8;24(10):2985. doi: 10.3390/s24102985.
We propose the use of a specially designed polyurethane foam with a plateau region in its mechanical characteristics-where stress remains nearly constant during deformation-between the electromyography (EMG) electrode and clothing to suppress motion artifacts in EMG measurement. Wearable EMG devices are receiving attention for monitoring muscle weakening due to aging. However, daily EMG measurement has been challenging due to motion artifacts caused by changes in the contact pressure between the bioelectrode and the skin. Therefore, this study aims to measure EMG signals in daily movement environments by controlling the contact pressure using polyurethane foam between the bioelectrode on the clothing and the skin. Through mechanical calculations and finite element method simulations of the polyurethane foam's effect, we clarified that the characteristics of the polyurethane foam significantly influence contact pressure control and that the contact pressure is adjustable through the polyurethane foam thickness. The optimization of the design successfully controlled the contact pressure between the bioelectrode and skin from 1.0 kPa to 2.0 kPa, effectively suppressing the motion artifact in EMG measurement.
我们提出使用一种特殊设计的具有平台区的聚氨酯泡沫，其机械特性在变形过程中保持几乎恒定的应力 - 肌电图（EMG）电极和衣服之间的平台区，以抑制 EMG 测量中的运动伪影。由于衰老导致肌肉减弱，可穿戴 EMG 设备受到关注。然而，由于生物电极和皮肤之间的接触压力变化引起的运动伪影，日常 EMG 测量一直具有挑战性。因此，本研究旨在通过使用服装上的生物电极和皮肤之间的聚氨酯泡沫来控制接触压力，从而在日常运动环境中测量 EMG 信号。通过对聚氨酯泡沫效应的机械计算和有限元方法模拟，我们清楚地表明，聚氨酯泡沫的特性对接触压力控制有很大影响，并且可以通过聚氨酯泡沫厚度来调节接触压力。优化设计成功地将生物电极和皮肤之间的接触压力从 1.0 kPa 控制到 2.0 kPa，有效地抑制了 EMG 测量中的运动伪影。
