J Neuroeng Rehabil
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Electrical stimulation of the peripheral nerves has been shown to be effective in restoring sensory and motor functions in the lower and upper extremities. This neural stimulation can be applied via non-penetrating spiral nerve cuff electrodes, though minimal information has been published regarding their long-term performance for multiple years after implantation. ⋯ The spiral nerve cuffs examined remain functional in motor and sensory neuroprostheses for 2-11 years after implantation. They exhibit stable charge thresholds, clinically relevant recruitment properties, and functional muscle selectivity. Non-penetrating spiral nerve cuff electrodes appear to be a suitable option for long-term clinical use on human peripheral nerves in implanted neuroprostheses.
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Limb prosthetics, exoskeletons, and neurorehabilitation devices can be intuitively controlled using myoelectric pattern recognition (MPR) to decode the subject's intended movement. In conventional MPR, descriptive electromyography (EMG) features representing the intended movement are fed into a classification algorithm. The separability of the different movements in the feature space significantly affects the classification complexity. Classification complexity estimating algorithms (CCEAs) were studied in this work in order to improve feature selection, predict MPR performance, and inform on faulty data acquisition. ⋯ This study deepens the understanding of the classification complexity in prediction of motor volition based on myoelectric information. It also provides researchers with tools to analyze myoelectric recordings in order to improve classification performance.