Microsoft kinect-based artificial perception system for control of functional electrical stimulation assisted grasping.

Matija Štrbac,Slobodan Kočović,Dejan B Popović,Marko Marković

doi:10.1155/2014/740469

Abstract

We present a computer vision algorithm that incorporates a heuristic model which mimics a biological control system for the estimation of control signals used in functional electrical stimulation (FES) assisted grasping. The developed processing software acquires the data from Microsoft Kinect camera and implements real-time hand tracking and object analysis. This information can be used to identify temporal synchrony and spatial synergies modalities for FES control. Therefore, the algorithm acts as artificial perception which mimics human visual perception by identifying the position and shape of the object with respect to the position of the hand in real time during the planning phase of the grasp. This artificial perception used within the heuristically developed model allows selection of the appropriate grasp and prehension. The experiments demonstrate that correct grasp modality was selected in more than 90% of tested scenarios/objects. The system is portable, and the components are low in cost and robust; hence, it can be used for the FES in clinical or even home environment. The main application of the system is envisioned for functional electrical therapy, that is, intensive exercise assisted with FES.

Highlights

A functional electrical stimulation (FES) system comprises an electronic stimulator and surface electrodes as the interface for the delivery of bursts of electrical charge to motor systems in order to assist or generate function that is missing due to a neurological injury
Clinical studies suggested that intensive grasping exercise assisted with FES, termed functional electrical therapy (FET), in poststroke hemiplegic patients led to significant carryover effects [1, 2]
We have demonstrated the applicability of the artificial perception paradigm for the generation of signals for automatic selection of grasp modality needed for control of FES assisted reaching and grasping

Summary

Introduction

A functional electrical stimulation (FES) system comprises an electronic stimulator and surface electrodes as the interface for the delivery of bursts of electrical charge to motor systems in order to assist or generate function that is missing due to a neurological injury. The FES system used in these studies assisted the opening and closing of the hand [3,4,5]. The control applied to FET is based on temporal synchrony and spatial synergies found to be appropriate for the generation of natural-like movement of a paralyzed arm/hand [6, 7]. Current state-ofthe-art FES systems can mainly assist the distal movements of the paralyzed arm (fingers and thumb control, forearm and wrist rotations, and shoulder rotations to some degree). Hand tracking and orientation estimation No. Object identification and grasp classification

Methods

Results

Conclusion