Multiday EMG-Based Classification of Hand Motions with Deep Learning Techniques

Pattern recognition of electromyography (EMG) signals can potentially improve the performance of myoelectric control for upper limb prostheses with respect to current clinical approaches based on direct control. However, the choice of features for classification is challenging and impacts long-term performance. Here, we propose the use of EMG raw signals as direct inputs to deep networks with intrinsic feature extraction capabilities recorded over multiple days. Seven able-bodied subjects performed six active motions (plus rest), and EMG signals were recorded for 15 consecutive days with two sessions per day using the MYO armband (MYB, a wearable EMG sensor). The classification was performed by a convolutional neural network (CNN) with raw bipolar EMG samples as the inputs, and the performance was compared with linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and stacked sparse autoencoders with features (SSAE-f) and raw samples (SSAE-r) as inputs. CNN outperformed (lower classification error) both LDA and SSAE-r in the within-session, between sessions on same day, between the pair of days, and leave-out one-day evaluation (<i>p</i> < 0.001) analyses. However, no significant difference was found between CNN and SSAE-f. These results demonstrated that CNN significantly improved performance and increased robustness over time compared with standard LDA with associated handcrafted features. This data-driven features extraction approach may overcome the problem of the feature calibration and selection in myoelectric control.