Papers by Keyword: Muscle

Abstract: EMG signal has a random and stochastic characteristics, so it is difficult to predict the amplitude. Furthermore, the EMG signal depends on the electrodes location. Therefore, a proper muscle selection determines the system's accuracy value. The purpose of this study was to investigate the exact location of the electrodes to improve the accuracy of the wearable hand exoskeleton trainer based on electromyography (EMG) signal control. The main advantage of the results of this study is that the most dominant muscle was found in the development of a wearable hand exoskeleton based on an EMG signal threshold. Therefore, the model can be controlled using a single electrode pair which can further be applied using a low-cost microcontroller. In this study, ten respondents were involved in the data acquisition. The discovery of the dominant muscle was carried out by investigating the dominant EMG signal in three muscles (Abductor pollicis longus, extensor digitorum) that plays a role in the open and close movements of the hand exoskeleton. Dry electrode was used to detect EMG signal activity on the skin surface. The EMG signal was then extracted using the root mean square (RMS) feature. After the evaluation, the results showed that the flexor digitorum superficialis muscle in the rest position produced higher accuracy value than the other muscles, which was 96.63±0.67%. In the implementation, the product of this research can be applied for rehabilitation steps in post-stroke patients which is carried out either in a medical rehabilitation unit or at home independently.

Abstract: Biomechanics is a relatively new discipline where engineering and mechanics principles are applied to the understanding of biological organism. Biomechanics simply taking place to study the mechanics of tissues, joints, human movements, circulatory system and digestive tract. One of the most challenging applications of biomechanics is in the field of sports and sports medicine in which the prevention of sports injuries is highly required. To understand and to diagnosis tissues abnormalities, mechanics of neuromuscular control, mechanics of cardiovascular function, a synchronizing interface with multi biomechanics sensors is developed in this effort. The interface shows different data recorded from several sensors during a physical activity made by the subject. These synchronized and combined data will help the user to make a specific diagnosis of the subject health. Moreover, these data will give an insight understanding on the correlation between variety aspects of biomechanics.

Abstract: The nutritional compositions, including amino acids and fatty acids profile in muscle were compared between wild and farmed Carassius auratus to evaluate the nutritional value. The contents of moisture, crude protein, fat, carbohydrate and ash in wild C. auratus were 74.47%, 19.12%, 3.72%, 1.52% and 1.18％, and those of farmed C. auratus were 74.03%, 18.41%, 4.54%, 1.95% and 1.06％, respectively. The contents of total amino acids (TAA) and essential amino acids (EAA) in wild C. auratus were obviously higher than those of farmed group (dry sample), whereas the protein of farmed C. auratus has more well-balanced amino acid composition based on the Amino acid scores. Abundant polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) were observed in the muscles of two groups, however the ratio of n-6/n-3 especially the wild group were significantly higher than the value (4.0 at maximum) recommended by UK Department of Health and the value of China (4:1～6:1). So the fatty acids composition of C. auratus was not ideal for the human health.

Abstract: Penaeus japonicus is an important marine shrimps resource in China. In order to evaluate the nutritional value, the contents of general nutritional compositions, amino acids and fatty acids in muscle were compared between wild and farmed P. japonicus. The contents of muscle moisture and crude protein, fat and ash in wild P. japonicus were 77.16%, 17.74%, 2.08% and 1.79％, and those in farmed P. japonicus were 78.02%, 17.26%, 2.04% and 1.63％, respectively. The essential amino acids (EAA) in wild and farmed P. japonicus were 23.25％ and 22.43％, respectively. The amino acid score of essential amino acids were higher than 100 except Leu and Trp, so the protein of P. japonicus has a well-balanced amino acid composition. Wild P. japonicus has more unsaturated fatty acids (64.05％) than farmed group (60.34％). Higher n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), eicosapentainoic acids (EPA, 20:5 n-3), docosahexaenoic acids (DHA, 22:6 n-3) contents and lower C16:0, C20:0, C18:1, C18:2, C18:3 levels were detected in the wild group. Values of n-6/n-3 in muscle of farmed and wild P. japonicus were 0.30 and 0.23 respectively, which were both significantly lower than the maximum value (4.0) recommended by UK Department of Health (HMSO, 1994), while Values of the PUFA/SFA ratio of two groups were 0.60 and 0.74 higher than the minimum value (0.45) recommended by HMSO. Thus the muscle of farmed and wild P. japonicus are both healthy and safe, and the the muscle of wild P. japonicus is more beneficial to human health.

Abstract: We present a method for simultaneous measurement of optical absorption coefficients for skin (μas) and muscle (μam) tissues using spatially resolved near-infrared spectroscopy (SRS). A novel calculation algorithm was developed to determine the absorption coefficients of superficial and deep layers within a three-layered structure using Monte Carlo simulation. A method for measuring the skin and muscle absorption coefficients was proposed based on this algorithm. In vitro experiments with tissue-like phantom and in vivo tests were performed using the SRS system with four separate detectors. The results show that the absorption coefficients for both skin and muscle tissues were obtained accurately.

Abstract: A novel tissue engineered construct was used to engineer skeletal muscle tissue for reconstruction of abdominal wall defects, which is a common challenge to surgeons, due to insufficient autogenous tissue. Myoblasts were isolated from soleus muscle fibers, seeded onto the scaffold and cultivated in vitro for 5 days. Full-thickness abdominal wall defects (3 x 4 cm) were created in 18 male New Zealand white rabbits and randomly divided into two equal groups (n=9 each). The defects of the first group were repaired with myoblast seeded bovine pericardium (treatment group) whereas the second group involved non-seeded bovine pericardium (control group). Three animals were sacrificed at 7, 14, and 30 days post-implantation from each group and the explanted specimens were subjected to macroscopic, light, fluorescence and electron microscopic analysis. In each case, the tissue engineered construct was thicker from deposition of newly formed collagen with neo-vascularisation, than the control group. Most importantly, multinucleated myotubes and myofibers were only detected in the treatment group. Therefore, this study demonstrates that myoblast-seeded bovine pericardium construct can provide a structural replacement for severe and large abdominal wall defects with profound regeneration of skeletal muscle tissues.

Abstract: Polyacrylamide (PAAM) gels suits better the artificial muscle fabrication despite their response time which stays low compared to natural human muscle. This main problem is due to their bulky form where the ions exchange takes a long time compared to the microsecond scale in human muscle. Thus a successful artificial muscle will need to replicate the small scales of the muscle fibers that can achieve fast response. In this study we develop a technique for PAAM gel fibers fabrication with micrometric diameter, 1D structure, aiming to convert isotropic swelling into a directional one and we propose an electrical activation mode for a linear actuation mechanism.