JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA, VOL. 7, NO.

1, MARCH 2009

69

A Study of Electromyogram Based on

Human-Computer Interface
Jun-Ru Ren, Tie-Jun Liu, Yu Huang, and De-Zhong Yao
AbstractIn this paper, a new control system
based on forearm electromyogram (EMG) is proposed
for computer peripheral control and artificial
prosthesis control. This control system intends to
realize the commands of six pre-defined hand poses: up,
down, left, right, yes, and no. In order to research the
possibility of using a unified amplifier for both electroencephalogram (EEG) and EMG, the surface forearm
EMG data is acquired by a 4-channel EEG measurement system. The Bayesian classifier is used to classify
the power spectral density (PSD) of the signal. The
experiment result verifies that this control system can
supply a high command recognition rate (average 48%)
even the EMG data is collected with an EEG system
just with single electrode measurement.
Index TermsBayesian classifier, forearm electromyogram, hand pose, human-computer interface.

1. Introduction
A human-computer interface (HCI) is a communication
system that uses bio-signals from brain or other parts of the
nervous system to control peripheral devices[1]. The arm
especially forearm is the most important tool for human.
Human forearm assists hand, wrist, and finger to achieve
specific actions[2]. An electric potential generated by
muscle contraction is called electromyogram (EMG)
signal[3]. Previous studies suggest that different compartments of the forearm muscle relate to hand, twist and finger
movement, and EMG signals can still be measured from the
forearm muscle even when the hand is lost[4]. EMG signals
can be used in various applications, such as computer
peripheral control[5], gesture discrimination[6], handwriting
recognition[7], artificial prosthesis control[8], and clinical
analysis and rehabilitation[9]. The key issue in a computer
peripheral control or artificial prosthesis control is the
control system[10].
Manuscript received December 10, 2008; revised January 5, 2009. This
work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China
under Grant No. 60736029 and 30525030.
The authors are with the Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of
Ministry of Education, School of Life, University of Electronic Science
and Technology of China, Chengdu, 610054, China (e-mail: dyao@
uestc.edu.cn).

In this paper, we investigate a new control system that

may control any device which has four positional commands and two decisive commands. This control system is
composed of six pre-defined hand poses that correspond to
up, down, left, right, yes, and no. The Bayesian classifier is
used to classify the power spectral density (PSD) of the
EMG signal. In order to test the possibility of using the
widely available electroencephalogram (EEG) acquisition
system to record EMG for this system, this study is based
on EMG signal collected by EEG measurement system
UEA-B (Symtop Instrument, Inc.) from four surface
electrodes. The experiment result shows that up-down,
left-right, and yes-no can be classified well even in such
signal acquisition condition or with a single electrode.
This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 introduces
the features of forearm EMG signal and the measurement
system. Section 3 depicts Bayesian classifier. Section 4
shows the experiment results. The conclusion is summarized in Section 5.

2. EMG Signal Features and

Measurement System
2.1 Forearm EMG Signal Features
The forearm EMG signals are generated by contracting
muscles depending on the size of flexor or extensor unit, so
the signal amplitude range and frequency range are wide
and uncertain. The typical amplitude of an EMG signal
range is between 0 mV and 10 mV (peak-to-peak). The
typical frequency of an EMG signal is between 0 Hz and
500 Hz. However, the power of forearm EMG signal is
concentrated in the frequency band between 30 Hz and
150 Hz[11].

2.2 Measurement System

The measurement system includes electrodes and signal
acquisition system. Fig. 1 (a) shows the block diagram of
an EMG measurement system. The surface electrode
connects the human forearm and signal acquisition system.
When the muscle is contracted, surface electrode picks up
an EMG signal to preamplifier. The preamplifier usually is
a differential amplifier used to amplify EMG signal
amplitude and eliminate noise. After passing preamplifier,
the signal needs to be filtered by low-pass filter and notch
filter which filter low frequency and working frequency.

JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA, VOL. 7, NO. 1, MARCH 2009

70

Analogy acquiring
Preamplifier

Electrode

Low-pass
filter

Notch
filter

Post
amplifier

(a)
ADC

Feature
extraction

Classify

Application

Digital
filter

Digital Signal Processing

(b)

Fig. 1. EMG measurement system with signal processing block.

Radial
artery, vein

Median
FCR nerve

BR

Ulnar
artery

APL

Ulnar
nerve
Ulnar
vein

ECRL
Superficial
radial nerve
ECRB
Posterior
interosseous
nerve

Antebrachial fascia

EDM
Interosseous membrane

Note: FCRflexor carpi radialis, PLpalmaris longus, FDSflexor

digitorum superficialis, FCUflexor carpi ulnaris, FPLflexor pollicis
longus, FDPflexor digitorum profundus, PQpronator quadratus,
Rradius, Uulna, BRbrachioradialis, APLabductor pollicis longus,
ECRLextensor carpi radialis longus, ECRBextensor carpi radialis
brevis, EPBextensor pollicis brevis, EPLextensor pollicis longus,
EIextensor indices, EDextensor digitorum, ECUextensor carpi
ulnaris, EDMextensor digiti minimi

Fig. 2. Cross sections of mid forearms muscle compartments and

nerves.

In order to prevent polarization effect, the gain of preamplifier is not enough to amplify EMG signal. The post
amplifier boosts the signal amplitude and adjusts the offset.
Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) changes the analog
signal to digital signal for digital signal processing. The
high-precision ADC can provide good digital data for
classification algorithms.
We must put the electrode on the right forearm position
because different compartments of forearm muscle relate to
hand, finger, and wrist movements[12]. Fig. 2 shows the
cross section of mid forearms muscle compartments and
nerves[13].
The selected EEG measurement system has high
CMRR (110 dB) and high precision ADC (16 bits).
Although EEG signal and EMG signal belong to weak
physical signal, the raw EEG signal magnitude is on the
order of a few microvolts and the raw EMG signal

magnitude is on the order of a few millivolts. Polarization

effect may be induced by the preamplifier of EEG
measurement system, since the magnification of
preamplifier is too high for EMG signal. The typical
frequency range of EEG signal is between 0.5 Hz to 30 Hz,
which is much narrower than the frequency range of an
EMG signal. This EEG measurement system cut-off
frequency is 45 Hz, so most useful EMG signals are filtered.
We use the EEG measurement system to acquire EMG
signal in order to prepare for EEG and EMG cooperation
collection and information sharing in the future.

3. Classification Algorithm
As shown in Fig. 1 (b), the classification algorithm is
used to classify features, which are extracted from digital
signals filtered by digital filter, and mapped classification
results to corresponding control commands[14],[15].
3.1 Feature Extraction
EMG signal power spectral density is non-stationary
since forearm EMG is a complex nonlinear signal and may
rapidly change when muscle condition is rest or
contraction[16]. Based on this character, PSD values are
extracted from EMG signals.
There are two ways to estimate power spectrum: one is
to estimate the signal auto-correlation function and then to
solve its Fourier transform, known as the auto-correlation
method. It can be denoted as
1
R x ( m) =
N
Px (e j ) =

N | m | 1

xn xn + m , m = 0, 1, 2,"

(1a)

n=0

N 1

m =

m = ( N 1)

R x (m)e j m =

R x (m)e j m

(1b)

where x is signal sequence, N is number of observed value,

m is the number of the estimated auto-correlation
sequence.
The other method, known as the Periodogram, can be
denoted as

X (e j ) = DTFT [ x(n)]

(2a)

2
1
Px (e j ) =
X (e j )
N

(2b)

where x(n) is signal sequence.

Basic periodogram estimation is not good since the
estimated variance is very large and it is not a consistent
estimation. In this paper, Welchs methods which use nonrectangular window to improve the Periodogram estimation
are used to extract signal features. Fig. 3 shows the
averaged power spectra of EMG signals in entire frequency
range. The best frequency range of feature extraction is
from 20 Hz to 40 Hz as shown in Fig. 4, so features are
extracted in the frequency range of 20 Hz to 40 Hz.

Power spectra (dB/Hz)

REN et al.: A Study of Electromyogram Based on Human-Computer Interface

40
30
20
10
0
10
20
30
40
0

The classification rules can be expressed as

up
up
down
down
left
left
right
right
yes
yes
no
no

20

40

60

If P (i | x) > P ( j | x), j i then x i .

p(x | i ) =

80 100 120 140 160 180 200

Frequency (Hz)

Power spectra (dB/Hz)

1
(2 )

l/2

Ci

1/ 2

exp (x i )T Ci1 (x i ) (8)

2

where i = 1, 2, ", M , i = E[ x] , and Ci is covariance

2360

matrix in l l dimension.
The discriminant function is denoted as

up
down
left
right
yes
no

2350
2340
2330
2320

gi (x) = ln [ p(x | i ) P(i )] = ln p(x | i ) + ln P(i ) (9)

or
1
gi (x) = (x i )T Ci1 (x i ) + ln P (i ) + ci
2

2310
2300
10

20

30
40 50
60
Frequency (Hz)

70

3.2 Classification Algorithms

We use Bayesian classifier to classify the extracted
features, which is based on statistical probability characteristics of the eigenvalue. Bayesian classifier classifies
unknown types of samples to the classification of the most
likely category. In two classifications, 1 and 2 are
denoted as sample sorts. If N is the total number of training
samples (N1+N2=NN11 N22), prior probability is
P(1)=N1/N, P(2)=N2/N.
Eigenvector should be any value in l-dimensional space. In
this hypothesis, eigenvector can represent any discrete
value, and class-conditional probability density function
p ( x | i ) is changed into probability.
In the classical theory of probability, Bayesian rules are
denoted as
p (x | i ) P (i )
p ( x)

(3)

where x is an eigenvector, p (x) is the probability density

function of x:
p(x) =

p ( x | i ) P ( i )

(10)

where ci is a constant equal to (l / 2)ln(2 ) (1/ 2)ln | Ci | .

80

Fig. 4. Averaged power spectra of EMG in 20 Hz to 40 Hz.

P (i | x) =

(7)

Toward likelihood function of x, i is multiple element

normal density function:

Fig. 3. Averaged power spectra of EMG.

2290
0

71

(4)

i =1

As a result, Bayesian classification rules are denoted as

If P (1 | x) > P(2 | x) then x 1

(5)

If P (1 | x) < P (2 | x) then x 2 .

(6)

This rule is a simple case of two classes. In a M-class

classification, 1, 2,, m are unknown sample sorts.

In our experiment, the probabilities of six commands

are the same, so every command of prior probability is
equal to 1/6. Substituting (3) and (4) into (10), we obtain
the final formula of Bayesian classifier:
1

exp (x i )T Ci1 (x i )
2

(11)
yi (x) = N
c
1/ 2
1

T
1
exp (x j ) C j (x j )
Cj
2
j =1

Ci

1/ 2

where Nc is the number of classes.

4. Experiment Results
We define six hand poses that represent different
control commands of control system: up, down, left, right,
yes, and no, as shown in Fig. 5. The rest state is that hand
parallels to forearm and hand does not flex or extend. There
are four states: up, down, left, and right compatible
with wrist flexion or extension in the same direction of
literal meaning of command. The yes is hand grasp and
the no is palm extension. All motions are completed in
the manner that forearm parallels to the ground. Forearm
positions in Fig. 5 are changed in order to be conveniently
understood. Every run is in the same order: rest, up, rest,
down, rest, left, rest, right, rest, yes, rest, and no. Each pose
holds five seconds. EMG data set has ten trials. Three EMG
data sets are used for Bayesian classifier.
The EMG signals are measured with four Ag/AgCl
surface electrodes. In order to collect the preferable EMG
on forearm, the electrodes are placed on the forearm
according to physiological mechanism of movement of
muscle. Four electrodes are separately tied on surface skin
four muscle groups: flexor caripi radialis, flexor digitorum
profundus, extensor carpi ulnaris, extensor digitorum.

JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY OF CHINA, VOL. 7, NO. 1, MARCH 2009

72

References

Yes

Up

Right

Rest

Left

Down

No

Fig. 5. Command of six hand poses.

Table 1: The experiment results of four channels
Item
Up/Down
Left/Right
Yes/No

Channels 1
35%
65%
30%

Channels 2
65%
45%
50%

Channels 3
40%
70%
40%

Channels 4
40%
40%
55%

These four muscle groups control wrist and palm motion.

These signals are amplified and converted into digital
signals by the EEG amplifier. The low cut-off frequency is
45 Hz. The sample rate is 1000 Hz.
We use a PC (Pentium4 3.0 GHz with Windows XP OS)
to process digital signal off-line. The digital filter cut-off
frequency is 45 Hz. After filtered by digital filter, the PSD
of the signals are extracted. The features are used as input
to the Bayesian classifier. Table 1 shows that the average
classification rate is 48% across 30 trials for the data
collected by EEG amplifier that most useful EMG signals
are filtered, since the EEG amplifier cut-off frequency is 45
Hz while the EMG energy concentration frequency range is
between 30 Hz and 150 Hz.

5. Conclusion
In this paper, we propose a new control system with the
commands of six pre-defined hand poses. The Bayesian
classifier is used to classify the power spectral density of
the signal. In order to examine the effectiveness of this
control system, an experiment is carried out to collect the
EMG signals with EEG amplifier. The experiment results
show that the control system has high accuracy in two
relative commands and single electrode measurement can
also perform well. The control system can be widely used
in computer peripheral control and artificial prosthesis
control. Our future works will focus on classification of
multi-class hand poses and on-line processing.

Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank UESTC Youth Foundation
under Grant No. L08010901JX0772 for support.

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Jun-Run Ren was born in Sichuan Province,

China, in 1984. He received the B.E. degree in
information engineering from the China
University of Mining and Technology (CUMT),
Xuzhou, in 2007. He is currently pursuing the
M.E. degree with School of Life Science &
Technology, University of Electronic Science
and Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu. His research
interests include embedded system design and biomedical signal
processing.
Tie-Jun Liu was born in Liaoning, China, in
1976. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees
from the University of Electronic Science and
Technology of China (UESTC), Chengdu, in
1999 and 2002, both in electrical engineering.
He received the Ph.D. degree in medical
science and engineering from UESTC in 2008.
He is currently working with UESTC. His research interest
includes brain computer interface.

73

Yu Huang was born in Sichuan Province,

China, in 1985. He received the B.E. degree in
biomedical engineering from UESTC, Chengdu,
in 2007. He is currently pursuing the M.E.
degree with School of Life Science &
Technology, UESTC. His research interests
include biomedical signal processing and
brain-computer interface.
De-Zhong Yao was born in Chongqing, China,
1965. He received the Ph.D. degree in applied
geophysics from the Chengdu University of
Technology, Chengdu, China, in 1991, and
completed his postdoctoral fellowship in
electromagnetic field with UESTC in 1993. He
has been a faculty member since 1993, a
professor since 1995, and the Dean of the School of Life Science
and Technology, UESTC since 2001, the director of the Key
Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, since
2009. He was a visiting scholar with the University of Illinois at
Chicago, USA, from September 1997 to August 1998, and a
visiting professor with the McMaster University, Canada, from
November 2000 to May 2001 and with the Aalborg University,
Denmark, from November 2003 to February 2004. He has
published more than 80 peer reviewed papers in international
journals and conferences. His current research interests include
EEG and fMRI with their applications in cognitive science and
neurological problems.