Design of a wireless EMG simulator for the testing of EMG acquisition devices

Treball de fi de grau en Biomèdica ; Tutor: Laura Becerra-Fajardo ; Electromyographs (EMG) are records of the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles contraction. The shape of the EMG contains relevant information about the neuromuscular state of the muscle. EMG signals are obtained for many applications including management of tremor suppression and myoelectric control for prosthesis and exoskeletons. EMG acquisition devices use EMG simulators to test and evaluate the acquisition’s performance. Simulators usually add synthetized interferences to simulate noise during EMG acquisition, usually power lines interferences. However, there may be more sources of noise when EMG is recorded. This document reports the design and development of a wireless EMG simulator that can be embedded in mediums that mimic muscle tissues. Thus, the acquisition device records both the EMG signal delivered by the simulator, and the typical interferences obtained during biosignal acquisition, such as electromagnetic interferences. The floating simulator is wirelessly controlled from a Mobile App using Bluetooth Low Energy. The Mobile App can select the EMG signal to be delivered, its amplitude and frequency, and the start and stop of the simulation. The dimensions of the simulator are 43.50 × 63.50 × 15 mm and it is powered with a rechargeable battery that can last approximately 40 hours. The future device will be sealed with silicone to protect it from the medium will be embedded into.