Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023 - 46

SPINOFF
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Trigno Mini sensors are applied to the forearm and hand muscles of professional pianist Rui Urayama
to gain understanding of fine motor control strategies. (Image: Delsys Inc.)
and algorithms capable of pinpointing
each of those signals, although processing
the data from a single test still took
days. As computing power advanced,
however, Delsys created software that
now can analyze that firehose of data in
real time.
Making the sensors wireless was no less
daunting, with the biggest challenge being
to perfectly synchronize signals from
multiple sensors placed across the body.
This is essential for seeing how muscles
work together to coordinate complex
movement. Because wireless protocols
like Bluetooth can have several milliseconds
of lag time, the company developed
its own wireless language for the
sensors to transmit the exact timing of
each nerve firing.
Most customers for Delsys' systems, sensors,
and software are still research laboratories
at universities, medical device companies,
and other scientific institutions,
developing cutting-edge technologies.
Many are engaged in projects that would
once have been thought impossible.
De Luca said several are working on
regenerating damaged nerves to reverse
paralysis, including at least one company
that has restored movement to paralyzed
monkeys in the lab. While motor nerves
can sometimes regenerate with the help
of electrical stimulation together with
new therapies that are in development,
it's hard to know what paths those nerves
are taking. This is where Delsys systems
can help researchers track progress by
detecting the location and the degree of
nerve and muscle activity.
Another project the company is working
on with universities and the National
46
Institutes of Health is an attempt to let
amputees control a prosthetic limb
much like a natural body part. While
other robotic prosthetics have communicated
with surgically implanted electrodes,
this new, less expensive, and noninvasive
approach would interpret the
firing of EMG signals directly from a
limb's remaining muscles without the
risks of surgery.
Delsys is also working with several partners
to develop technology that would
let patients speak after having their larynx,
or voice box, removed. The idea is
to first use the EMG technology to record
the muscle and nerve signals from
the face and neck during speech. Then a
program could translate those motor signals
back into speech.
As the company has made some of its
devices simpler and easier to use, Delsys
also has begun to find customers outside
of research laboratories. These include
individual neurosurgeons, physical therapists,
athletic trainers, and others who
are interested in analyzing movement or
neuromuscular disorders.
While it's been over 15 years since Delsys
last worked with NASA, De Luca said
the company, now a global operation,
continues to benefit from the team's
long relationship with the space agency,
which laid the groundwork for its flagship
products. " A lot of our early developments
were seeded by the larger research
questions that had their inception
with the NASA-focused studies. "
For more information, visit https://
spinoff.nasa.gov/Electrical-BodySignals-Help-Researchers-RestoreMovement-and-More.
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Tech Briefs Magazine - March 2023

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