Electromyography Signal Acquisition, Filtering, and Data Analysis for Exoskeleton Development
Jung-Hoon Sul, Lasitha Piyathilaka, Diluka Moratuwage, Sanura Dunu Arachchige, Amal Jayawardena, Gayan Kahandawa, D.M.G. Preethichandra
Abstract
Electromyography (EMG) has emerged as a vital tool in the development of wearable robotic exoskeletons, enabling intuitive and responsive control by capturing neuromuscular signals. This review presents a comprehensive analysis of the EMG signal processing pipeline tailored to exoskeleton applications, spanning signal acquisition, noise mitigation, data preprocessing, feature extraction, and control strategies. Various EMG acquisition methods, including surface, intramuscular, and high-density surface EMG, are evaluated for their applicability in real-time control. The review addresses prevalent signal quality challenges, such as motion artifacts, power-line interference, and crosstalk. It also highlights both traditional filtering techniques and advanced methods, such as wavelet transforms, empirical mode decomposition, and adaptive filtering. Feature extraction techniques are explored to support pattern recognition and motion classification. Machine learning approaches are examined for their roles in pattern recognition-based and hybrid control architectures. This article emphasizes muscle synergy analysis and adaptive control algorithms to enhance personalization and fatigue compensation, followed by the benefits of multimodal sensing and edge computing in addressing the limitations of EMG-only systems. By focusing on EMG-driven strategies through signal processing, machine learning, and sensor fusion innovations, this review bridges gaps in human-machine interaction, offering insights into improving the precision, adaptability, and robustness of next generation exoskeletons.