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    Sensory and affective response to chocolate differing in cocoa content: A TDS and facial electromyography approach.
    (Elsevier B.V., 2023-08-08) Wagner J; Wilkin JD; Szymkowiak A; Grigor J
    Existing research has offered insight into facial activities and their associations with hedonic liking during the consumption of basic food samples and suggests facial changes during consumption are linked to the hedonic evaluation of tastes and, thus related to the taster's perception rather than the tastes themselves. This study tests whether, during the consumption of commercially available dark chocolate, a complex food product, which can be high in bitterness but expectedly so, how facial activities are linked to the bitterness levels and the hedonic liking of the samples. To do this we carried out two studies with untrained consumers, the first of which captured temporally dynamic sensory perception during the consumption of dark chocolate samples of 36% and 85% cocoa content, using the Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS) approach. The second study captured facial EMG over the corrugator and zygomaticus muscles during the consumption of dark chocolate samples (36%, 70%, and 85% cocoa). Specifically, the aim of this research was to investigate whether corrugator activity had a greater association with bitterness perception, linked to cocoa, or hedonic evaluation. Capturing the dynamic sensory profile of chocolate samples allowed an investigation into the time points most evident of sensory variation related to the bitterness and sweetness of the taste, allowing insight into whether facial activities also deviated during this time. These data offer evidence to suggest that corrugator was associated with hedonic evaluation during consumption of the samples, with the most liked samples (being those with 70% and 36% cocoa) eliciting similar corrugator activities and less activity than the least liked 85% cocoa content sample; however, there was also evidence to suggest a significant variation in participants' corrugator activity during the period of oral processing when bitterness was most evident in the 85% cocoa sample and sweetness was most evident in the 36% cocoa sample (i.e., the time when bitterness and sweetness were most divergent) Further investigation showed a variation in facial activities elicited during consumption of the 36% cocoa sample based on whether individuals were part of the group who favoured the 85% cocoa sample or the group favouring the 36% cocoa sample. The findings, therefore, suggest facial EMG, specifically over the corrugator, appears to be related to the hedonic evaluation of a complex food product and not the taste itself. Furthermore, being aware of the time points where sensory variations are most apparent between samples can allow for targeted investigation into facial EMG and its ability to distinguish food samples.
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    Acute Whole-Body Vibration Exercise Promotes Favorable Handgrip Neuromuscular Modifications in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Over Randomized Clinical
    (Hindawi Limited, 2021-12-02) Coelho-Oliveira AC; Lacerda ACR; de Souza ALC; Santos LMDM; da Fonseca SF; dos Santos JM; Ribeiro VGC; Leite HR; Figueiredo PHS; Fernandes JSC; Martins F; Filho RGT; Bernardo-Filho M; da Cunha de Sá-Caputo D; Sartorio A; Cochrane D; Lima VP; Costa HS; Mendonça VA; Taiar R; Song C
    OBJECTIVE: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes progressive changes in the musculoskeletal system compromising neuromuscular control especially in the hands. Whole-body vibration (WBV) could be an alternative for the rehabilitation in this population. This study investigated the immediate effect of WBV while in the modified push-up position on neural ratio (NR) in a single session during handgrip strength (HS) in women with stable RA. METHODS: Twenty-one women with RA (diagnosis of disease: ±8 years, erythrocyte sedimentation rate: ±24.8, age: 54± 11 years, BMI: 28 ± 4 kg·m-2) received three experimental interventions for five minutes in a randomized and balanced cross-over order: (1) control-seated with hands at rest, (2) sham-push-up position with hands on the vibration platform that remained disconnected, and (3) vibration-push-up position with hands on the vibration platform turned on (45 Hz, 2 mm, 159.73 m·s-2). At the baseline and immediately after the three experimental interventions, the HS, the electromyographic records (EMGrms), and range of motion (ROM) of the dominant hand were measured. The NR, i.e., the ratio between EMGrms of the flexor digitorum superficialis (FDS) muscle and HS, was also determined. The lower NR represented the greater neuromuscular efficiency (NE). RESULTS: The NR was similar at baseline in the three experimental interventions. Despite the nonsignificance of within-interventions (p = 0.0611) and interaction effect (p = 0.1907), WBV exercise reduced the NR compared with the sham and control (p = 0.0003, F = 8.86, η 2 = 0.85, power = 1.00). CONCLUSION: Acute WBV exercise under the hands promotes neuromuscular modifications during the handgrip of women with stable RA. Thus, acute WBV exercise may be used as a preparatory exercise for the rehabilitation of the hands in this population. This trial is registered with trial registration 2.544.850 (ReBEC-RBR-2n932c).
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    Ground reaction forces and electromyography in a parkour obstacle course : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Sport and Exercise Science at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Austmann, Marcel
    Parkour is a physical discipline that involves athletes, also known as traceurs, using specific skills and movements to overcome obstacles in an urban environment. A typical parkour landing involves an ever-changing combination of variables such as speed, agility, and multiple movement skills that in turn may affect the forces placed on the body. The purpose of the present study was to design a field- based protocol that measured and compared the forces athletes are exposed to in their natural training environment. Methods: A parkour specific obstacle course was designed and five experienced traceurs completed the series of obstacles in succession. Between obstacle comparisons were made for ground reaction force (GRF), time to maximal ground reaction force (TTP), and rate of force development (RFD). Additionally, electromyography was assessed to help better describe underlying mechanisms associated with differences in landing forces. Electrodes were placed bilaterally on the vastus lateralis (VL), gastrocnemius (GM), and the tibialis anterior (TA) and area (%MVIC) was used to represent muscle activation. Results: GRF was highest in obstacles with larger drop heights as well as increased momentum from previous obstacles which includes obstacles 2a-floor, 4-floor, and 2c-floor. The lowest TTP values were associated with obstacles involving short landing contact time due to limited space which includes obstacles 3-4, 2c-floor, and 1-floor. RFD was greatest in obstacles 2a- floor, 3-4, 4-floor, 9-floor, and 2c-floor which all required explosive power upon landing in order to complete subsequent obstacles. EMG data showed that the GM and VL had greater activation on obstacles requiring either a change in direction such as 6b-7 and/or a rapid descent such as obstacles 7-8 and 8-floor. TA showed higher activations on obstacle 9-floor and 2b-2c, but activations were similar across most obstacles. The activation of the TA may be due to its role in eccentrically contracting during initial foot strike during landing. Conclusion: Due to the dynamic nature of parkour, athletes are often exposed to a variety of landings which would produce diverse kinetic demands. By using a parkour specific course, this study provided force data that was a close representation of the forces traceurs are exposed to in a typical parkour run.
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    Pattern recognition-based real-time myoelectric control for anthropomorphic robotic systems : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mechatronics at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2019) Wang, Jingpeng
    Advanced human-computer interaction (HCI) or human-machine interaction (HMI) aims to help humans interact with computers smartly. Biosignal-based technology is one of the most promising approaches in developing intelligent HCI systems. As a means of convenient and non-invasive biosignal-based intelligent control, myoelectric control identifies human movement intentions from electromyogram (EMG) signals recorded on muscles to realise intelligent control of robotic systems. Although the history of myoelectric control research has been more than half a century, commercial myoelectric-controlled devices are still mostly based on those early threshold-based methods. The emerging pattern recognition-based myoelectric control has remained an active research topic in laboratories because of insufficient reliability and robustness. This research focuses on pattern recognition-based myoelectric control. Up to now, most of effort in pattern recognition-based myoelectric control research has been invested in improving EMG pattern classification accuracy. However, high classification accuracy cannot directly lead to high controllability and usability for EMG-driven systems. This suggests that a complete system that is composed of relevant modules, including EMG acquisition, pattern recognition-based gesture discrimination, output equipment and its controller, is desirable and helpful as a developing and validating platform that is able to closely emulate real-world situations to promote research in myoelectric control. This research aims at investigating feasible and effective EMG signal processing and pattern recognition methods to extract useful information contained in EMG signals to establish an intelligent, compact and economical biosignal-based robotic control system. The research work includes in-depth study on existing pattern recognition-based methodologies, investigation on effective EMG signal capturing and data processing, EMG-based control system development, and anthropomorphic robotic hand design. The contributions of this research are mainly in following three aspects:  Developed precision electronic surface EMG (sEMG) acquisition methods that are able to collect high quality sEMG signals. The first method was designed in a single-ended signalling manner by using monolithic instrumentation amplifiers to determine and evaluate the analog sEMG signal processing chain architecture and circuit parameters. This method was then evolved into a fully differential analog sEMG detection and collection method that uses common commercial electronic components to implement all analog sEMG amplification and filtering stages in a fully differential way. The proposed fully differential sEMG detection and collection method is capable of offering a higher signal-to-noise ratio in noisy environments than the single-ended method by making full use of inherent common-mode noise rejection capability of balanced signalling. To the best of my knowledge, the literature study has not found similar methods that implement the entire analog sEMG amplification and filtering chain in a fully differential way by using common commercial electronic components.  Investigated and developed a reliable EMG pattern recognition-based real-time gesture discrimination approach. Necessary functional modules for real-time gesture discrimination were identified and implemented using appropriate algorithms. Special attention was paid to the investigation and comparison of representative features and classifiers for improving accuracy and robustness. A novel EMG feature set was proposed to improve the performance of EMG pattern recognition.  Designed an anthropomorphic robotic hand construction methodology for myoelectric control validation on a physical platform similar to in real-world situations. The natural anatomical structure of the human hand was imitated to kinematically model the robotic hand. The proposed robotic hand is a highly underactuated mechanism, featuring 14 degrees of freedom and three degrees of actuation. This research carried out an in-depth investigation into EMG data acquisition and EMG signal pattern recognition. A series of experiments were conducted in EMG signal processing and system development. The final myoelectric-controlled robotic hand system and the system testing confirmed the effectiveness of the proposed methods for surface EMG acquisition and human hand gesture discrimination. To verify and demonstrate the proposed myoelectric control system, real-time tests were conducted onto the anthropomorphic prototype robotic hand. Currently, the system is able to identify five patterns in real time, including hand open, hand close, wrist flexion, wrist extension and the rest state. With more motion patterns added in, this system has the potential to identify more hand movements. The research has generated a few journal and international conference publications.
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    Low cost bio-robotic system using biometric signals : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Mechatronics at Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2014) Scott, Christopher
    The high cost of bio-controlled prosthetic devices is prohibitive to the general amputee population. This causes the majority of amputees to be forced to use mechanical or passive prosthetic devices which provide little to no extra functionality to the amputee’s residual limb. The mechanical prostheses can actually cause damage to other parts of the amputee’s body by the way they are mounted and actuated. By contrast, bio-controlled prostheses actually improve the functionality and quality of life to the amputee with little to no adverse side effects. The mounting device does not cause injury to other parts of the amputee’s body and the amputee is able to lead a near-normal life. The barrier to these devices however is the price. In most cases, amputations involve a third party to pay for medical care and rehabilitation through either government funding or medical insurance. These organisations don’t want to spend lots of money for every amputee and therefore have a maximum expenditure unless a special case is made. A passive or mechanical prosthesis is commonly able to be obtained for less than $3000, the price for a bio-controlled prostheses however is upwards of $5000. This maximum expenditure only qualifies most amputees for the mechanical type prostheses. This research funded by the Dick and Mary Earle Scholarship aims to break the cost barrier to the bio-controlled prosthesis by creating a bio-controlled device for a competitive price. A proof of bio-controlled prosthesis design and a prototype testing platform was achieved using a series of low cost manufacturing and electronic techniques. The prototype was required to provide competitive functionality to the current bio-controlled prostheses on the market while retaining a similar cost of the mechanical prosthesis. To keep the cost of prototyping to a minimum a physical test platform was manufactured in-house at Massey University using the mechanical workshop and manufacturing technologies available. The mechanical prototype was first designed in a Computer Aided Design (CAD) package, and then transferred to a Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software package. The resulting program was then loaded into the Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machining centre where the machine would follow the provided program and manufacture the required part out of aluminium. The CNC machine however was unable to create all of the mechanical parts used in the prototype prosthesis and some manual machining was required to bring the design to completion. The final mechanical system was functionally sound but lacked aesthetic appeal as it is a prototype testing platform and could be improved by changing manufacturing technologies. An alternative to the conventional manufacturing processes available to Massey was laser sintered 3D printing of titanium alloy. By changing from “material removing” technologies to “material adding” manufacturing the shapes of the prototype components would be able to be dramatically changed for both aesthetic qualities and for improved mechanical properties. Based on the prosthesis cost study, the titanium alloy would provide a lighter, stronger and more durable base for the prosthetic device for a similar price. The prototype was to be controlled by Electromyography (EMG), a method of detecting electrical potential across a muscle when it is activated. When an amputation occurs the muscles controlling the lost limb are commonly left intact and the amputee is able to still control these muscles without any extra training. EMG produces a small differential voltage when the target muscle is activated. The ability to read the changes in potential provides the opportunity to use this signal as a control mechanism. The current market proprietary EMG sensors are part of the reason why bio-controlled prosthetic devices are out of reach for so many amputees. These sensors cost above $500 each and include filtering and signal conditioning. This cost was dramatically reduced by creating an EMG sensor from scratch. The market EMG sensors output a signal that is suitable for pattern and feature recognition for high-level control. Eliminating the need for this high-level analysis in the control system means that the quality of signal and filtering was not required to be as stringent. Instead of outputting a high fidelity waveform, the conditioning circuit outputs a slow moving averaged waveform that is suitable for the input to a microcontroller. In such a way the overall sensor and conditioning circuit costs were reduced by almost half. The control system was designed around an “accurate enough” mentality so the developed prosthesis would be able to provide a suitably accurate performance without spending excessive amounts of money. Because the majority of the processing was completed in hardware before the EMG signal reached the microcontroller, the specifications of the microcontroller were not onerous. This allowed the purchases of a relatively inexpensive microcontroller, a further cost reduction. The level of control required by the “accurate enough” control method was very limited, only requiring: two EMG inputs, five motors and five current sense modules. The two EMG inputs are used to activate the prosthesis in the forward and reverse directions. The action is undertaken by the five motors, one for each finger. To prevent the damage to the gripped objects and the motors, the current sensing modules are used to detect both the force and stalling of the motors. The only calculation that the microcontroller is required to perform is to compare the EMG signal and the current sensing inputs to the predefined threshold values. The overall developed system was able to achieve the desired functionality for an overall price of $3,770. This price is not as expensive as other bio-controlled prostheses and is close to the price of the current hook prosthesis. At this price point a strong case could be made to the third party purchasing organisations to purchase a higher functionality prosthesis to greatly improve the quality of life for the amputee community. Taking into account that an initial prototype is inherently more expensive to produce than a commercial variant due to economy of scale, there is much promise for future revisions to become more competitive in the bio-controlled prostheses market. The research reported in this thesis has published two articles in two international conference proceedings and also won a runner up best presentation award at one of these conferences.