Biomedical Research Lab

Contact Person: Dr. Marco P. Schoen

Biomedical Engineering at ISU’s MCERC primarily addresses topics in rehabilitation engineering, such as upper body prosthetic device development, signal conditioning of biomedical data, instrument development for acquiring biomedical signals, algorithm development for extracting information from acquired biomedical signals, and controls of prosthetic devices. Some of the current projects are listed below:

• Surface Electromyographic (sEMG) Signal Processing: sEMG data acquisition and filtering algorithm development. sEMG array sensor development.
• Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for Upper Body Motion Recognition: Development of ANN to recognize and project upper body motion based on sEMG measurements in real time.
• Biofeedback: electrical and mechanical stimulator for prosthetic hand users. Development of hardware and software to stimulate mechanoreceptors on auxiliary skin surface for feedback of touch, force, shear, pressure, and texture from prosthetic hands.
• Motor Point Mapping: development of a motor point map for upper body (arm) sEMG measurement and tens unit stimulation.
• Muscle Fatigue Modeling: Development of mathematical model to capture skeletal muscle fatigue.
• ARWED: Augmented Reality for Stroke Victims: Development of an augmented reality system to aid rehabilitation process – sEMG based information based support.
• Real-Time Classification and ANN Based Motion Classification: Neural Network based motion determination using sEMG signal classification and embedded systems.

Collaborations with: Department of Physical Therapy and Occupational Health