OTBioLab Data

Ten individuals in good health were enlisted to execute 16 distinct movements involving the wrist and fingers in real-time. Before commencing the experimental procedure, explicit consent was obtained from each participant. Participants were informed that they had the option to withdraw from the study at any point during the experimental session. The experimental protocol adhered to the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki and received approval from the local ethics committee at the National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan. The approval reference number for data recording was BMES/REC/22/030. The participants were positioned comfortably and in an upright posture on an adjustable chair. Their upper limbs were placed at rest. A total of eight bipolar differential electrodes were evenly positioned around the forearm near the radiohumeral joint. Among these electrodes, two were situated on the primary active areas of the flexor digitorum and extensor digitorum muscles, while one electrode was placed on the primary active area of the biceps muscle. The selection of these sites was based on a combination of comprehensive sampling techniques and precise anatomical positioning strategies. To aid participants in executing the required movements, a laptop screen displaying instructional videos was placed in front of them. Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals were captured using a commercially available amplifier (EMG USB2+, OT Bioelettronica, Italy). The amplifier's bandpass settings were configured at 10 Hz and 500 Hz, with a sampling rate of 2048 Hz. The gain was set to 1000 Hz. The data from each paired electrode were differentially processed, resulting in the generation of eleven bipolar channels. The participants performed the specified set of 16 movements involving the wrist and fingers. Within each experimental session, every movement was repeated four times, interspersed with relaxation intervals to prevent muscle fatigue. Each repetition lasted for 5 seconds, followed by a relaxation period of 3 seconds between successive repetitions of gestures. As a result, each experimental session extended for a total duration of 544 seconds.