Intention Gathering from Muscle Residual Activity for the Severely Disabled

Castellini C, Kõiva R. Intention Gathering from Muscle Residual Activity for the Severely Disabled. Presented at the IROS 2012, Workshop on Progress, Challenges and Future Perspectives in Navigation and Manipulation Assistance for Robotic Wheelchairs, Algarve, Portugal.In this position paper we give an overview of some possible ways of capturing patients' intentions when little muscle residual activity is present. In particular, surface electromyography, ultrasound imaging, force detection and tactile muscle movement detection are described, and their potential relevance for the severely disabled / wheelchair community is discussed. Whereas electromyography is a well-known technique, especially in prosthesis control, ultrasound imaging and tactile detection constitute an original contribution to this research community's potential applications