[Research] Prof. Sunkook Kim develops on-skin wearable multichannel electromyography sensor
- 신소재공학부
- Hit1396
- 2022-01-26
Prof. Sunkook Kim develops on-skin wearable multichannel
electromyography sensor
- Published online in IEEE Transaction on Industrial Electronics on May 10th, 2021
[Image 1] Prof. Sunkook Kim and Dr. Srinivas Gandla
Prof. Sunkook Kim’s research team (Dr. Srinivas Gandla, First author) developed on-skin wearable multi-channel electromyography (EMG) sensor that enables controlling the robotic arm as smooth as human arm, even in long distance.
Traditional PDMS was inconvenient for a long time usage due to the limited applicability and limitation in monitoring accurate EMG sensor values. Hence, the research team fabricated on-skin wearable multi-channel EMG sensor which can track human arm’s subtle EMG signal and built a system in which robot arms can move according to human gestures.
The research team developed a high-sensitivity biosignal monitoring sensor featuring deformable EMG electrode design by applying Kirigami serpentine structures inspired by nature. To capture the wearer’s arm muscle movement in a stable manner, the sensor is equipped with a stretchable electrode structure exhibiting mechanical/electrical stability standing up to 150% of stress on x, y, and z-axis.
※ Kirigami : 'Kiri in Japanese means to cut, and 'gami', which means paper, when combined, refers to the form representing a stereoscopic shape when cut into a particular pattern or folded.
Fig. 1. Large-area patched-based stretchable multichannel array sensor processed by laser ablation technique for robotic control.
As control signal for digital devices by receiving human "gestures" through biosignals or EMG, this technology can be used in the contact-free industry, robot industry, and medical industry to connect people and digital devices.
Dr. Gandla participated in this research with the support of Sungkyunkwan University's foreign researcher support initiative (해외우수신진연구자 사업). The findings, the stretchable electrode material technology, was applied to T&L’s (티앤엘(사)) Smart Thermometer in 2021.
Fig. 2. Overview of the proposed multichannel sensor arrays for the robotic arm control system.
“I hope the technology to be applied in an artificial EMG sensor system which can directly transmit user’s biosignals." Dr. Gandla stated.
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (2021R1A2B5B0200216 and 2018R1D1A1B0704 8232) and the SKKU Research Fellowship Program of Sungkyunkwan University. The paper was published online in one of the world-renowned journal, IEEE Transaction on Industrial Electronics, on May 10th, 2021 (Top 5% in electronics).