Myolink: EMG-based Inter-human Wireless Neuroprosthetic Controller

The Myolink team designed and constructed a neuroprosthetic device for inter-human arm control which stimulates muscle contraction in the test subject. This system measures electromyographic (EMG) signals in one person and wirelessly triggers a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) unit to induce involuntary muscle contraction in an-other person. This system features completely wireless communication between the "controller" and the "con-trolled" person and is capable of stimulating multiple muscle targets. Testing of the Myolink system was conducted in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Capstone Laboratory at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. An initial experiment was run to verify an existing human-human interface system to confirm placement of electrodes and resulting out-put motions. Using these observations, the wireless multi-input multi-output (MIMO) system was designed, constructed, and tested. The result of the project was a proof-of-concept system that wirelessly induces 2 unique motions generated voluntarily by one person onto a second person via electrical stimulation. Further development of Myolink could be used in applications such as physical therapy, disease recovery tracking, and body movement instruction.