Development of Multimodal EEG-EMG Human Machine Interface for Hand-Wrist Rehabilitation: A Preliminary Study.

Abstract

Patients with neurological disorders, such as stroke, often undergo upper limb motor impairments, severely limiting their ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL). Wearable robots have been developed to provide intensive and precise repetitive training for upper limb rehabilitation. Effective rehabilitation requires aligning robotic assistance with patient movement intention to promote brain plasticity. Additionally, robotic assistance must accommodate the complex, coordinated upper limb motions required for ADL tasks, including not only isolated hand movements but also integrated hand and wrist actions. This paper presents a multimodal human-machine interface (HMI) for integrated hand-wrist rehabilitation using both EEG and EMG signals. A three-degrees-of-freedom (3-DOF) soft wearable robot, combining a robotic hand glove and forearm skin brace, was designed to assist coordinated hand and wrist movements during reaching and grasping. EEG signals classified rest and grasp states using a Riemannian geometry approach, while EMG signals from three forearm muscles detected reaching onset to trigger the wrist adjustment. Preliminary tests with four healthy participants demonstrated 85% accuracy in EEG-based classification and sufficient EMG amplitude for motion onset detection. Future studies will expand participant testing to improve system robustness and evaluate its effectiveness for stroke rehabilitation.