LEVERAGING LARGER MARKETS TO ENCOURAGE INNOVATION IN PROSTHETICS: DESIGN OF MYOPEN, AN OPEN MYOELECTRIC SIGNAL PROCESSOR FOR USE AS AN INPUT DEVICE FOR VIDEO GAMING AND HOBBY ROBOTICS

Abstract

The prosthetic arm market is small; perhaps 70,000 people lack arms in\nthe US. This, coupled with the difficulty of making and controlling a\nmechatronic hand replacement, has forestalled innovation in arm prostheses\nin the fifty years since its introduction. Since the Boston Arm project in\n1965, the popular press has promised thought-controlled prosthetic arms,\nyet the promises of scientific research have not often been kept in the clinic.\n[1] We aim to surmount these obstacles by developing an open myoelectric\nsignal processor targeted at researchers, hobbyists, and video game\nenthusiasts. Our device is capable of processing 16 channels of surface\nelectromyographic (EMG) (or other data), applying pattern recognition\nalgorithms in real-time via a power-efficient Blackfin Digital Signal Processor\n(DSP), and delivering the results through ethernet, I2C, RS232, USB, and\nLego NXT bus. We hope that this open, commodity level platform will\nbecome a disruptive technology, encouraging experimentation in the\nalgorithms and applications of a field that has been sequestered too long in\nthe research lab.