Session: ASME Undergraduate Student Design Expo

Paper Number: 171605

Interactive Emg Model for Education 

An interactive electromyography (EMG) model is a useful and versatile teaching tool that can greatly improve bioengineering education. It offers students a hands-on and engaging way to understand the complex relationship between muscle activity and the resulting physiological signals. Unlike static diagrams or passive lectures, an interactive EMG model brings the concepts of neuromuscular physiology and bioelectrical signal processing to life through real-time visualization and manipulation. This model clearly shows how EMG signals start in muscle fibers, travel through tissue, and are detected by surface or intramuscular electrodes. It allows students to see how the collective electrical activity of many motor units combines to create the complex and often noisy EMG waveform.

 

EMG has a versatile application and the ability to simplify it to the needs of the target group. The design proposed exemplifies the basics of how EMG signals are captured and turned into code that is used to power an electrical robot arm through a software called BioPac Student Laboratory. Electrodes placed on the palm of the hand detect muscle activity and send signals through the apparatus to operate the robotic gripper. The robotic gripper will open and close based on the position of the thumb on the individual's hand.

A key benefit of an interactive model is that it lets students explore how different physiological and experimental factors affect the EMG signal. For example, students can change the simulated level of muscle contraction and see how this impacts the signal's amplitude, frequency, and overall shape. This hands-on approach helps them understand the link between the force a muscle produces and its electrical activity, which is a basic idea in biomechanics and motor control. Additionally, the model lets students try out various electrode setups, like changing the distance between electrodes or their placement on the skin. They can then instantly see how these adjustments affect signal amplitude, spatial filtering, and noise levels. This practical exploration clears up how signal acquisition works and emphasizes the importance of electrode placement for collecting useful EMG data.

We have observed that many younger students find it challenging to understand the different engineering fields, which can make bioengineering hard to explain. Most EMG signal models focus on advanced, sports-related applications. Our design offers a simple, entry-level demonstration that uses BioPac Student Laboratory to turn EMG signals into robotic arm movement. The goal is to spark interest in biomedical engineering through a hands-on and approachable experience. Our project was successful. We created an easy-to-use and engaging model that captures young students' interest in bioengineering.

Presenting Author: Bri Castle Valparaiso University

Presenting Author Biography: Bri Castle is an Engineering student at Valparaiso University interested in bio-engineering applications and design.

Authors:

Reva Johnson Valparaiso University
Bri Castle Valparaiso University
Rachel Bednarczyk Valparaiso University
Pamela Hernandez-Espiritu Valparaiso University
Shahin Nudehi Valparaiso University