Muscular Power Estimation in a Tele-Rehabilitation System Using a Skeletal-Linkage Model

Japanese society is aging rapidly. Muscle exercises for the elderly, has been proposed to reduce their dependence on nursing care. Specifically, rehabilitation exercise appears to be a suitable program, by considering the individual´s present muscular power and the limitations of the human body. In order to prepare and modify the exercise program to match the changes of the patient´s condition, it is necessary to build a patient muscular-power estimation system that considers the patient´s situation. Electromyography (EMG) provides useful biological information by measuring the muscular dynamics of the human body. This paper proposes a method of estimating muscular power of the upper limbs using both EMG and a skeletal-linkage model. This method was validated through experimentation and simulation analysis, which confirmed that it could estimate the muscular power of each muscle of the upper limbs through simple exercises (such as circle-drawing movement)