A wearable combined surface electromyography sensor

Abstract

The present invention discloses a wearable combined surface electromyography sensor, wherein a single surface electromyography sensor comprises a wearable shell, in which embedded electrodes and lead electrodes that can contact the body surface, a circuit board and a battery are respectively installed, wherein the embedded electrode serves as a detection channel and is electrically connected to the circuit board; the lead electrode serves as another detection channel and can be selectively electrically connected to the circuit board through a plug-in connector; the circuit board is powered by a battery, and the electromyography signals obtained by the embedded electrode / and the lead electrode are collected and processed and then transmitted to a host computer; the present invention can realize convenient mode switching between single and dual channels, and the installation structure is simple and compact, the versatility is good, and the cost is relatively low.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of biomedicine, and in particular relates to a wearable combined surface electromyography sensor. Background Art

[0002] Surface electromyography (EMG) sensors are a type of sensor used in the fields of biomedical engineering and bioelectric control technology. Their working principle is to collect the electromyographic signals of the target muscles through body surface electrodes, amplify and process the electromyographic signals, and send them to the host computer to obtain the electromyography (EMG). In the fields of rehabilitation medicine and sports medicine, it is usually necessary to wear multiple surface electromyography (EMG) sensors on the subject to collect the electromyographic signals of multiple muscles when the subject walks or exercises, measure and evaluate muscle strength, fatigue, and the order of multiple muscles in a specific exercise mode, etc. Therefore, wearable surface electromyography sensors are needed.

[0003] Existing wearable surface electromyography sensors all adopt a single-channel structure, which is costly, can measure a small number of muscles simultaneously, have a large installation volume, and cannot switch between single-channel and dual-channel modes.

[0004] Therefore, the applicant hopes to seek technical solutions to improve the above technical problems. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of this, the object of the present invention is to provide a wearable combined surface electromyography sensor that can realize convenient mode switching between single and dual channels, and has a simple and compact installation structure, good versatility and relatively low cost.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

[0007] A wearable combined surface electromyography sensor, a single surface electromyography sensor comprises a wearable shell, wherein embedded electrodes and lead electrodes that can contact the body surface, a circuit board and a battery are respectively installed in the shell, wherein:

[0008] The embedded electrode serves as a detection channel and is electrically connected to the circuit board;

[0009] The lead electrode serves as another detection channel and can be selectively electrically connected to the circuit board through a plug connector;

[0010] The circuit board is powered by a battery, collects and processes the electromyographic signals obtained by the embedded electrodes and / or lead electrodes, and transmits them to a host computer.

[0011] Preferably, the circuit board is provided with a preamplifier, a filter, an analog-to-digital converter, an MCU module and a communication module which are electrically connected respectively, and the communication module adopts wired communication and / or wireless communication; wherein the preamplifier is electrically connected to the embedded electrode and the lead electrode respectively, and is used to amplify the electromyographic signal collected by the electrode, and the analog-to-digital converter is electrically connected to the MCU module, and is used to perform analog-to-digital conversion on the amplified and filtered signal to obtain a digitized electromyographic signal, and the digitized electromyographic signal is sent to the host computer through the communication module.

[0012] Preferably, a first circuit board and a second circuit board which are electrically connected are respectively installed in the housing, wherein:

[0013] The first circuit board and the second circuit board are both powered by batteries;

[0014] The preamplifier, filter and analog-to-digital converter are arranged on the first circuit board, and the preamplifier is electrically connected to the embedded electrode and the lead electrode respectively;

[0015] The MCU module and the communication module are arranged on the second circuit board.

[0016] Preferably, the battery is disposed between the first circuit board and the second circuit board.

[0017] Preferably, the first circuit board and the second circuit board are electrically connected by using a flexible circuit board and / or pins.

[0018] Preferably, the embedded electrode is fixedly electrically connected to the circuit board by means of a soldering pin; and the circuit board is provided with a plug interface for movable electrical connection with the plug connector.

[0019] Preferably, an acceleration sensor module and / or an IMU inertial measurement unit is provided on the circuit board, which is used to detect motion parameters corresponding to the human body part to which the wearable shell is attached, send the motion parameters to the MCU module, and send them to the host computer through the communication module.

[0020] Preferably, the circuit board is provided with a battery charging interface for automatic battery charging, and when the battery is in a charging state, the surface electromyography sensor is in a shutdown state.

[0021] Preferably, the shell comprises a shell base and a shell cover installed as one body, the shell base has an installation space for installing embedded electrodes and lead electrode plug connectors, a circuit board and a battery, and the shell cover is provided with a key surface electrically connected to the circuit board.

[0022] Preferably, the surface of the shell substrate provided with the embedded electrode is an adhesive surface for bonding and contacting with the body surface.

[0023] Preferably, it includes a plurality of surface electromyographic sensors used in combination; each surface electromyographic sensor is respectively connected to a repeater by wireless or wired communication, and the repeater is connected to a host computer by wireless or wired communication, so as to send the digitized electromyographic signal transmitted by the surface electromyographic sensor to the host computer; wherein, in addition to being used as a signal repeater between each surface electromyographic sensor and the host computer, the repeater can also be used as a charger for each surface electromyographic sensor to charge the battery of each surface electromyographic sensor.

[0024] The present invention forms a wearable combined surface electromyography sensor that can perform single-channel and dual-channel switching by arranging fixed embedded electrodes and movable plug-in lead electrodes. The wearable combined surface electromyography sensor can detect the electromyograms (EMGs) of two muscles at the same time, and can also perform electromyography (EMG) detection on a single muscle. Multiple wearable combined surface electromyography sensors can also be used at the same time, and the operation is convenient. In addition, the installation structure proposed by the present invention is simple and compact, has good versatility and low cost. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the module structure of a wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of module electrical connection between a first circuit board and a second circuit board in a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the structure of a wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to a specific embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 4 yes Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the electrical connection structure of the first circuit board and the second circuit board in another direction

[0029] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a combination of multiple surface electromyography sensors in a specific embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] An embodiment of the present invention discloses a wearable combined surface electromyography sensor, wherein a single surface electromyography sensor comprises a wearable shell, in which embedded electrodes and lead electrodes that can contact the body surface, a circuit board and a battery are respectively installed, wherein the embedded electrode serves as a detection channel and is electrically connected to the circuit board; the lead electrode serves as another detection channel and can be selectively electrically connected to the circuit board through a plug-in connector; the circuit board is powered by a battery, and collects and processes the electromyography signals obtained by the embedded electrode / and the lead electrode, and transmits them to a host computer.

[0031] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solutions in the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0032] See also Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, a wearable combined surface electromyography sensor, a single surface electromyography sensor 1 includes a wearable shell 10, preferably, in this embodiment, the shell 10 includes a shell base 11 and a shell cover 12 installed as one body, the shell base 11 has an installation space 11a, and the shell cover 12 is provided with a key surface 12a (the key is not shown in the figure) electrically connected to the circuit board, and the test instruction is input to the circuit board by operating the key;

[0033] In the present embodiment, the installation space 11a of the shell substrate 11 is respectively installed with an embedded electrode 21 and a plug connector 22a, a circuit board and a battery 23 that can contact the body surface. Preferably, in the present embodiment, the surface of the shell substrate 11 provided with the embedded electrode 21 adopts an adhesive surface for bonding and contacting with the body surface, which is conducive to quick and effective wearing; wherein, the embedded electrode 21 is used as a detection channel and is electrically connected to the circuit board; the lead electrode 22 is used as another detection channel and can be selectively electrically connected to the port of the circuit board through the plug connector 22a; the circuit board is powered by a battery 23, and the circuit board is connected to the host computer 24 for communication, and the electromyographic signals obtained by the embedded electrode 21 / and the lead electrode 22 are collected and processed, and then transmitted to the host computer 24 (usually a desktop computer or a tablet computer, or a mobile phone, etc.);

[0034] Preferably, in order to realize a more convenient and effective electrical connection structure, in this embodiment, a first circuit board 31 and a second circuit board 32 electrically connected are respectively installed in the housing, wherein:

[0035] The first circuit board 31 and the second circuit board 32 are both powered by a battery 23; preferably, the first circuit board 31 and the second circuit board 32 are electrically connected by a flexible circuit board 33 and a pin 34 respectively; a battery 23 is arranged between the first circuit board 31 and the second circuit board 32, and the installation position design of the battery 23 can ensure that there is a sufficient and appropriate installation distance between the first circuit board 31 and the second circuit board 32, so as to facilitate the installation of the pin 34 for electrical connection;

[0036] The first circuit board 31 is provided with a preamplifier 31a, a filter 31b and an analog-to-digital converter 31c, and the preamplifier 31a is electrically connected to the embedded electrode 21 and the lead electrode 22 respectively; preferably, in this embodiment, the embedded electrode 21 is fixedly electrically connected to the preamplifier 31a of the first circuit board 31 by a welding pin 21a; the first circuit board 31 is provided with a plug interface for active electrical connection with the plug connector 22a; the second circuit board 32 is provided with an MCU module 32a and a communication module 32b; in this embodiment, the communication module 32b adopts wired communication and / or wireless (such as Bluetooth or WIFI) communication, preferably wireless communication; wherein the preamplifier 31a is electrically connected to the embedded electrode 21 and the lead electrode 22 respectively, and is used to amplify the collected signal, and then filter it through the filter 31b; the analog-to-digital converter 31c is electrically connected to the MCU module 32a, and is used to convert the amplified and filtered signal into a digital electromyographic signal, and send the digital electromyographic signal to the host computer 24 through the communication module 32b;

[0037] Preferably, in this embodiment, an acceleration sensor module and / or an IMU inertial measurement unit (serial port connection mode may be adopted) is provided on the first circuit board 31 or the second circuit board 32, which is used to detect the motion parameters corresponding to the electrode contact part of the wearer, send the motion parameters to the MCU module, and send them to the host computer 24 through the communication module; when the acceleration sensor module is adopted, the motion acceleration parameters of the wearer can be obtained, which can be sent to the host computer 24 for further motion state analysis of the wearer; when the IMU inertial measurement unit is adopted, the motion acceleration and angular velocity and other motion parameters of the wearer can be obtained, which can be sent to the host computer for further motion state analysis of the wearer. Specifically preferably, this embodiment adopts the serial port expansion connection of the second circuit board 32 to connect the 9-axis IMU-inertial measurement unit, and further conducts comprehensive analysis through the wearer's motion acceleration and angular velocity. The specific analysis process is common knowledge known to those skilled in the art, and this embodiment has no specific innovation thereto, so this embodiment will not be described one by one;

[0038] Preferably, the first circuit board 31 or the second circuit board 32 is provided with a battery charging interface (not shown) for automatic battery charging. When the battery 23 is in a charging state, the surface electromyography sensor 1 is in a shutdown state; more preferably, in the present embodiment, the battery charging interface is provided with three needles, two of which are used as charging needles to form a charging circuit, and the remaining one is used as a charging detection needle. In a non-charging condition, the charging detection needle is in a high level state. When the battery charging interface of the surface electromyography sensor 1 is inserted into a charging seat (not shown in the figure), the charging detection needle is grounded and converted into a low level signal, which is detected by the MCU module 32a, and the MCU module 32a outputs a power-off instruction, thereby making the surface electromyography sensor 1 in a shutdown state; specifically, when used in the present embodiment, when the charging value of the battery 23 generally reaches 4.0V, it can be determined that the charging is complete, and the battery charging interface of the surface electromyography sensor 1 can be separated from the charging seat. Of course, the specific charging parameter settings can be specifically selected according to the actual application requirements, and these are not necessary limitations of the present embodiment;

[0039] Please see further Figure 5 As shown, when this embodiment is actually applied, it may include a plurality of surface electromyographic sensors 1 used in combination, each surface electromyographic sensor 1 is respectively connected to the repeater 1' by wireless or wired communication, and the repeater 1' is connected to the host computer 24 by wireless or wired communication, so as to send the digitized electromyographic signal transmitted by the surface electromyographic sensor 1 to the host computer 24; wherein, in addition to being used as a signal repeater between each surface electromyographic sensor 1 and the host computer 24, the repeater 1' can also be used as a charger for each surface electromyographic sensor 1 to charge the battery of each surface electromyographic sensor; this technical solution is proposed because it is considered that in actual design, each set of 8 surface electromyographic sensors 1 (equivalent to 16 channels) is usually allowed to be used at the same time, and sometimes there are scenarios in which 2 sets or even 4 sets of surface electromyographic sensors 1 used in combination are used at the same time. With so many surface electromyography sensors 1, the amount of data required for communication connection is very large (sampling rate 1K--4Ksps, 16 bits for each data point of each channel). It is not practical to use direct wireless transmission to the host computer 24 (such as a computer). Therefore, this embodiment recommends using a high-performance repeater to collect and obtain these digitized electromyography signal data through wireless communication, and then transmit them to the host computer 24 (such as a computer) through a high-speed USB port or high-speed WiFi. In this way, a more reliable data communication effect can be obtained and communication obstacles can be avoided. Also belonging to the preferred technical solution is that the repeater 1' in this embodiment can also be used as a charger for these surface electromyography sensors 1 to conveniently charge the batteries of the surface electromyography sensors 1, further simplifying the charging structure.

[0040] This embodiment forms a wearable combined surface electromyography sensor 1 that can switch between single channel and dual channel by setting fixed embedded electrodes 21 and movable plug-in lead electrodes 22. It can detect the electromyography EMG of two muscles at the same time, and can also perform electromyography EMG detection on a single muscle. The operation is convenient, and the installation structure proposed in this embodiment is simple and compact (the length × width × height dimensions of the shell 10 are only: 38mm × 27mm × 17mm, which is close to the size of the existing single-channel surface electromyography sensor), with good versatility and low cost. In actual practical use, this embodiment can combine multiple surface electromyography sensors 1 for use. The process of combined use mainly includes: attaching multiple surface electromyography sensors to different muscle parts involved in completing a movement, so as to detect the contraction order and contraction strength of the muscles, analyze the perfection of the movement, and guide the improvement of sports performance. The specific combined use analysis process belongs to the common knowledge of technicians in this field, and this part is not the innovative technical content of this application, so it will not be explained in detail.

[0041] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above and that the invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential features of the invention. Therefore, the embodiments should be considered exemplary and non-limiting in all respects, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and it is intended that all variations falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims be included in the invention. Any reference numeral in a claim should not be considered as limiting the claim to which it relates.

[0042] In addition, it should be understood that although the present specification is described according to implementation modes, not every implementation mode contains only one independent technical solution. This description of the specification is only for the sake of clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole. The technical solutions in each embodiment may also be appropriately combined to form other implementation modes that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A wearable combined surface electromyography sensor, characterized in that: A single surface electromyography sensor includes a wearable shell, in which embedded electrodes and lead electrodes that can contact the body surface, a circuit board and a battery are installed respectively, wherein: The embedded electrode serves as a detection channel and is electrically connected to the circuit board; The lead electrode serves as another detection channel and can be selectively electrically connected to the circuit board through a plug connector; The circuit board is powered by a battery, collects and processes the electromyographic signals obtained by the embedded electrodes and / or lead electrodes, and transmits them to the host computer; The circuit board is provided with a preamplifier, a filter, an analog-to-digital converter, an MCU module and a communication module which are electrically connected respectively, and the communication module adopts wired communication and / or wireless communication; wherein the preamplifier is electrically connected to the embedded electrode and the lead electrode respectively, and is used to amplify the electromyographic signal collected by the electrode, and the analog-to-digital converter is electrically connected to the MCU module, and is used to perform analog-to-digital conversion on the amplified and filtered signal to obtain a digitized electromyographic signal, and the digitized electromyographic signal is sent to the host computer through the communication module; The circuit board is provided with an acceleration sensor module and / or an IMU inertial measurement unit, which is used to detect motion parameters corresponding to the human body part attached to the wearable shell, send the motion parameters to the MCU module, and send them to the host computer through the communication module.

2. The wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The housing is provided with a first circuit board and a second circuit board which are electrically connected, respectively. The first circuit board and the second circuit board are both powered by batteries; The preamplifier, filter and analog-to-digital converter are arranged on the first circuit board, and the preamplifier is electrically connected to the embedded electrode and the lead electrode respectively; The MCU module and the communication module are arranged on the second circuit board.

3. The wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to claim 2, characterized in that: The battery is arranged between the first circuit board and the second circuit board.

4. The wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first circuit board and the second circuit board are electrically connected by using a flexible circuit board and / or pins.

5. The wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The embedded electrode is fixedly electrically connected to the circuit board by using a welding pin; the circuit board is provided with a plug interface which is movably electrically connected to the plug connector.

6. The wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The circuit board is provided with a battery charging interface for automatic battery charging. When the battery is in a charging state, the surface electromyography sensor is in a shutdown state.

7. The wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shell comprises a shell base and a shell cover which are installed as one body. The shell base has an installation space for installing embedded electrodes and lead electrode plug connectors, a circuit board and a battery. The shell cover is provided with a key surface which is electrically connected to the circuit board.

8. The wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to claim 7, characterized in that: The surface of the shell substrate provided with the embedded electrode is an adhesive surface for bonding and contacting with the body surface.

9. The wearable combined surface electromyography sensor according to claim 1, characterized in that: It comprises a plurality of surface electromyographic sensors used in combination; each surface electromyographic sensor is respectively connected to a repeater by wireless or wired communication, and the repeater is connected to a host computer by wireless or wired communication, so as to send the digitized electromyographic signal transmitted by the surface electromyographic sensor to the host computer; wherein, in addition to being used as a signal repeater between each surface electromyographic sensor and the host computer, the repeater can also be used as a charger for each surface electromyographic sensor to charge the battery of each surface electromyographic sensor.

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