WO2023238251A1 - Co-contraction control device, co-contraction control method, server device, delivery method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

A co-contraction control device according to an embodiment comprises: an agonist muscle determination unit that determines an agonist muscle of a subject on the basis of time series data of the subject's body movement and a threshold value; a co-contraction determination unit that determines, on the basis of time series data of the subject's muscle activity and a threshold value, whether or not co-contraction is occurring between the agonist muscle determined by the agonist muscle determination unit and an antagonist muscle of the subject; and an output unit that outputs, when the co-contraction determination unit determines that the co-contraction is occurring, a control signal for electrical stimulation to the agonist muscle determined by the agonist muscle determination unit for suppressing the co-contraction.

Description

Co-contraction control device, co-contraction control method, server device, distribution method and program

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a co-contraction control device, a co-contraction control method, a server device, a distribution method, and a program.

Appropriate contraction and relaxation of agonist muscles and antagonist muscles is important for humans to perform smooth joint movements. Main action muscles are primarily responsible for contracting for purposeful movements. Furthermore, the antagonist muscles are located on the opposite side of the main action muscles, and assist efficient movement by relaxing at the same time as the main action muscles contract.

However, in actual exercise situations, there are times when the antagonist muscles contract simultaneously with the agonist muscles, or co-contraction, which obstructs joint movement by the agonist muscles. Electrical Muscle Stimulation (EMS) is used as a technique to suppress this co-contraction.

For example, in Non-Patent Document 1, by presenting (supplying) EMS to the tibialis anterior muscle (TA), which is the main action muscle of the subject, the triceps surae, which is its antagonist muscle, is stretched ( It is disclosed that the stretch effect, that is, the co-contraction inhibitory effect, was enhanced in a short period of time.

Furthermore, for example, Non-Patent Document 2 discloses that a spinal reflex mechanism that suppresses antagonistic muscles functions even in a state where subjects voluntarily co-contract.

SHUNMEI TERUI, et al. Simultaneous Execution of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation (NMES) and Muscle Stretching Increases Muscle Extensibility in a Short Time). Journal of Physical Therapy Science, 2016, 31.1: 87-91. HIRABAYASHI, Ryo, et al. Effects of reciprocal Ia inhibition on contraction intensity of co-contraction. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2019, 12: 527.

The technology disclosed in Non-Patent Document 1 or 2 above targets simple joint movements in which the main action muscle and the antagonist muscle are known in advance, and the EMS presentation to the main action muscle is steady. However, in order to suppress co-contraction and achieve smooth movement in complex movement movements, such as balance exercises, the following problems (1), which are not taken into account by the above techniques, are required: (2) is possible.

(1) During exercise, the agonist muscles and antagonistic muscles switch from moment to moment, and it is necessary to present EMS to the appropriate muscle that should be the agonist muscle.
(2) EMS must be presented at the appropriate timing for co-contraction to occur.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its objectives are to provide a co-contraction control device, a co-contraction control method, and a co-contraction control method capable of suppressing co-contraction and realizing smooth operation. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a server device, a distribution method, and a program.

A co-contraction control device according to one aspect of the present invention includes: a main action muscle determination unit that determines a main action muscle of the test object based on time-series data of the body motion of the test object and a threshold; co-contraction for determining whether or not co-contraction occurs between the main action muscle determined by the main action muscle determination unit and the antagonist muscle of the test object, based on time series data of muscle activity of the object and a threshold value; a determination unit; and when the co-contraction determination unit determines that the co-contraction is occurring, electrical stimulation is applied to the main action muscle determined by the main action muscle determination unit to suppress the co-contraction. and an output section that outputs a control signal.

A co-contraction control method according to one aspect of the present invention is a method performed by a co-contraction control device, in which a main action muscle determination unit of the co-contraction control device uses time-series data of the body motion of a test subject and a threshold value. The co-contraction determination unit of the co-contraction control device determines the main action muscle of the test object based on the time-series data and threshold of the muscle activity of the test object. The output unit of the co-contraction control device determines whether or not co-contraction is occurring between the main action muscle determined by the unit and the antagonist muscle of the test object, and the output unit of the co-contraction control device determines that the co-contraction is occurring. When determined by the contraction determination section, a control signal for electrical stimulation of the main action muscle determined by the main action muscle determination section is output in order to suppress the co-contraction.

According to the present invention, it is possible to suppress co-contraction and realize smooth operation.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an application example of a co-contraction control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a co-contraction control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing operation procedure of the co-contraction control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a co-contraction control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The technology described in one embodiment of the present invention is based on the joint motion of the test subject during exercise, and is based on the joint motion of the test subject during movement. A function that sequentially determines the main action muscles to which EMS should be presented, and a function that determines the occurrence of co-contraction based on the subject's muscle activity during exercise, and suppresses this co-contraction at the timing when co-contraction occurs. This is a technology that suppresses co-contraction and has two functions: the ability to present an EMS.

In the present embodiment, ankle joint control during a standing balance task is taken as an example of an actual exercise. This task requires complex control of the ankle joints in order to stabilize posture, that is, to suppress postural sway of the body's center of gravity, and co-contraction of the ankle joints is the main cause of increased postural sway. It is said that Here, we will focus on a task of standing on one right leg on a balance board that tilts only in the front-back direction.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of application of a co-contraction control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the example shown in FIG. 1, the co-contraction control system 100 includes a motion capture system 10, an electromyograph 20, a co-contraction control device 30, a microcomputer 40, and an electrical stimulation device. (muscle electrical stimulation device) 50, and a distribution server (server) 60.

As a preliminary preparation for operation by the co-contraction control system, a motion capture measurement marker (not shown) (sometimes simply referred to as a marker) is affixed to the front end of a balance board (not shown) included in the motion capture system 10. It is assumed that this balance board is connected to the co-contraction control device 30.
The motion capture system 10 measures the three-dimensional position coordinates of the marker.

In addition, as a preliminary preparation, it is assumed that an electromyograph 20 is attached to the tibialis anterior and soleus (SO) muscles of the subject's ankle joint, and that this electromyograph 20 is connected to the co-contraction control device 30. .

The electromyograph 20 measures the muscle activity of each muscle of the subject using electromyography (EMG). Further, an electrical stimulation electrode (not shown) is attached to the same muscle of the subject and connected to the muscle electrical stimulation device 50. This electrical muscle stimulation device 50 is connected to the co-contraction control device 30 via the microcomputer 40.

The electrical muscle stimulation device 50 can present EMS to each muscle of the subject to cause the muscle to contract. Furthermore, the motion capture system 10 and the electromyograph 20 operate synchronously. In the co-contraction control system 100, EMS is presented to the subject's tibialis anterior or soleus muscle according to the center of gravity sway parameter and the EMG measurement results. Here, the fluctuation of the height (h) of the front end of the balance board is used as the center of gravity fluctuation parameter.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a co-contraction control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the co-contraction control system 100 includes a body movement evaluation section 11 in the motion capture system 10, a myoelectric evaluation section 21 in the electromyograph 20, and a time-series data storage in the co-contraction control device 30. 31, main action muscle threshold determination section 32, main action muscle determination section 33, co-contraction threshold determination section 34, co-contraction determination section 35, and various functions including the electrical stimulation presentation section 51 in the electrical stimulation device 50. can be done.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing operation procedure of the co-contraction control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
・Body movement evaluation section 11
The body motion evaluation unit 11 measures the position of the target body part of the subject at time t, and transmits the measurement result to the co-contraction control device 30 as time series data of the subject's current body motion. In this embodiment, the height h of the front end of the balance board due to the current body movement of the subject using the balance board is measured by the motion capture system 10, and the position of the target body part is measured based on this measurement result. Ru.

・Myoelectric evaluation section 21
The myoelectric evaluation unit 21 measures the muscle activity of each muscle of the subject at time t using EMG, and transmits the measurement results to the co-contraction control device 30 as time series data of the subject's current muscle activity.

・Time series data storage unit 31
The subject himself performed a movement task similar to the current one in advance, and the time series data of the body movement in the pre-experiment (pre-task) and the time-series data of the muscle activity of the target muscle by EMG in the pre-experiment were collected. are collected and stored in the time series data storage section 31 (S1, S2).
For example, in this embodiment, the subject performs a balance task similar to the current one in advance, and obtains (1) time-series data of body movements, that is, time-series data ht of the height h of the front end of the balance board, and (2) Time series data Et of muscle activity of each muscle based on EMG can be collected.

- Main action muscle threshold determination unit 32
The main action muscle threshold determination unit 32 receives the input of time-series data of body movements in the preliminary task, and uses a predetermined formula depending on the type of task to stabilize the appropriate main action muscle, that is, the posture of the subject. A threshold value for determining the main action muscle to be operated and to which the EMS should be presented when co-contraction occurs is output to the main action muscle determination unit 33.
For example, the main action muscle threshold determination unit 32 receives input of time-series data of body movements in the pre-task, and determines an appropriate main action muscle to which EMS should be presented in order to stabilize the posture in the body movement. The threshold values h_ta and h_so for determining the main action muscle are output to the main action muscle determining section 33.

In this embodiment, when the height h of the front end of the balance board indicated by the time-series data of the subject's current body movement is less than or equal to the threshold value h_ta, the tibialis anterior muscle of the subject is determined to be the appropriate main action muscle as described below. The determination is made by the main action muscle determining section 33. In addition, when the height h of the front end of the balance board shown in the time-series data of the current body movement is greater than or equal to the threshold h_so, the subject's soleus muscle is determined to be the appropriate main action muscle as described above, and the main action muscle is determined as follows. The determination is made by the section 33.

If the average value of the time series data of the height h of the front end of the balance board is h_mean, and the standard deviation of the time series data is h_std, the following equations (1) and (2) are defined.
h_ta = h_mean - h_std...Equation (1)
h_so = h_mean + h_std…Equation (2)

Here, regarding the height h of the front end of the balance board indicated by the time-series data of the subject's current body movement, it is assumed that the height h of the front end of the balance board is in the region of "h_ta < h < h_so", that is, it is not below the threshold h_ta but above the threshold h_so as described above. In the region where there is no balance, the subject can maintain balance relatively horizontally, so the height h of the front end of the balance board can be called the "stable region."

In addition, regarding the height h of the front end of the balance board shown in the above-mentioned time-series data of the current body movement, in areas other than the above-mentioned "h_ta < h < h_so", that is, in the area below the above-mentioned threshold h_ta or above the threshold h_so, the balance Since the board is highly tilted, the height h of the front edge of the balance board can be called the "unstable area."

・Main action muscle determination unit 33
The main action muscle determining unit 33 inputs the time series data of the subject's current body motion transmitted from the body movement evaluation unit 11, and uses this time series data and the threshold value output from the main action muscle threshold determination unit 32. Based on this, an appropriate main action muscle is determined according to the subject's physical movement at time t. In this embodiment, the main action muscle determining unit 33 determines whether the appropriate main action muscle should be the tibialis anterior (TA) or the soleus (SO) (S3).

- Co-contraction threshold determination unit 34
The co-contraction threshold determination unit 34 receives input of time-series data of the subject's muscle activity based on EMG in the preliminary experiment, and determines whether the time-series data of the subject's current muscle activity based on EMG is in a co-contraction state. Outputs the threshold value for In this embodiment, when the value of the muscle activity of the antagonist muscle exceeds the threshold value Eth, it can be determined that the EMG time-series data of the subject's current muscle activity is in a co-contraction state.

In addition, among the time-series data of body movements in the preliminary experiment, when the height of the front end of the balance board is in the stable region (h_ta < h < h_so), the average value of the time-series data of the subject's muscle activity by EMG is defined as E_mean. , when the height of the front end of the balance board is in the stable region, the following equation (3) is defined, assuming that E_std is the standard deviation of time-series data of the subject's muscle activity based on EMG.
Eth = E_mean + E_std…Equation (3)

・Co-contraction determination unit 35
The co-contraction determination unit 35 inputs the time-series data of the subject's current muscle movement transmitted from the myoelectric evaluation unit 21 via the main action muscle determination unit 33, and uses this time-series data and co-contraction threshold determination. Based on the threshold value Eth output from the unit 34, it is determined whether the subject's current muscle activity at time t is in a co-contraction state, that is, whether the subject's agonist muscle and antagonist muscle are co-contracting. (S4).

When the above muscle activity is in a co-contraction state, that is, when it is determined that the value of the muscle activity of the subject's antagonist muscle exceeds the threshold value Eth (Yes in S4), the subject's antagonist muscle activity is in a state of co-contraction to suppress co-contraction. Since it is considered necessary to suppress muscle movement (contraction), the co-contraction determining unit 35 sends a trigger signal, which is a control signal for presenting EMS to the determined appropriate main action muscle. It is sent to the microcomputer 40.
On the other hand, when the above muscle activity is not in a co-contraction state, that is, when it is determined that the value of the muscle activity of the subject's antagonist muscle is less than or equal to the threshold Eth (No in S4), the subject can control the posture on their own. Therefore, the co-contraction determining unit 35 does not transmit the trigger signal (S6).

・Electrical stimulation presentation section 51
When the microcomputer 40 receives the trigger signal transmitted from the co-contraction determination section 35, the electrical stimulation presentation section 51 of the electrical stimulation device 50 receives and recognizes this signal from the microcomputer 40, and the above-determined appropriateness of the subject is detected. EMS is presented to the main action muscles for Δt seconds (S5). This suppresses co-contraction occurring in the subject.

Next, variations according to this embodiment will be explained in (1) to (7) below.
(1) As the time-series data of body movements and muscle activities in the preliminary experiment, data from a balance task performed by another person, such as an expert exerciser, may be used. For example, the threshold may be determined based on the movements of a physical therapist, etc., and EMS may be presented as a stimulus to a patient with paralysis, and the threshold may be determined based on the movements of a professional player or coach. It is also possible that a threshold value is determined and applied to the practitioner.

(2) The subject of motion of the test object may be a mechanical power source such as an artificial muscle rather than a human muscle, and the thresholds related to muscle activity and body motion are based on time-series data of human body motion. It is also possible that a signal is determined and input to the artificial muscle in place of electrical stimulation.

(3) As an example of actual exercise, in addition to the above-mentioned standing balance task, other movements that require switching between agonist muscles and antagonistic muscles, such as walking or periodic swing motion of the arm, etc. The target muscles can also be changed depending on the exercise task.

(4) The time-series data of the body motion in the preliminary experiment and the time-series data of the muscle activity of the target muscle by EMG in the preliminary experiment, which are stored in the above-mentioned time-series data storage unit 31, are stored in the distribution server 60 as shown in the diagram. The data may be stored in advance in a storage device that does not contain the data.
In this case, in order to determine the various threshold values described above, the main action muscle threshold determination section 32 or the co-contraction threshold determination section 34 of the co-contraction control device 30 sends information to the distribution server 60 via the communication network, as necessary. A request for distribution (acquisition) of the above-mentioned time-series data, so-called download is made, and in response to this distribution request, the distribution unit (not shown) of the distribution server 60 transmits the stored time-series data to It can be distributed to the co-contraction control device 30 that is the source of the distribution request via the communication network.

(5) The various threshold values determined by the main action muscle threshold determination section 32 or the co-contraction threshold determination section 34 described above may be stored in advance in a storage device (not shown) in the distribution server 60 as threshold data.
In this case, if necessary, the main action muscle determining unit 33 or the co-contraction determining unit 35 of the co-contraction control device 30 requests the distribution server 60 to distribute the threshold data, a so-called download request, via the communication network. In response to this distribution request, the distribution unit of the distribution server 60 can distribute the stored threshold data to the co-contraction control device 30 that is the source of the distribution request via the communication network.

(6) The formula for determining the threshold determined by the main action muscle threshold determination unit 32 is not limited to one formula as shown in formulas (1) and (2) above, but may include multiple formulas. The configuration may be such that the user can arbitrarily select different types of threshold values, for example, a formula for professionals and a formula for amateurs. A formula for professionals is, for example, a formula that includes relatively complex parameters that can be handled by professionals, and a formula for amateurs is a formula that includes relatively simple parameters that can be handled by, for example, amateurs.

(7) The formula for determining the threshold determined by the above-mentioned co-contraction threshold determination unit 34 is not limited to one formula as shown in the above-mentioned formula (3), but can include multiple types of thresholds, e.g. The configuration may be such that the user can arbitrarily select from formulas for professionals and amateurs.

In one embodiment of the present invention described above, when co-contraction occurs in a test object, the main action muscle to which EMS should be presented is sequentially determined, and the EMS is applied to the main action muscle at an appropriate timing when co-contraction occurs. By presenting it to the active muscles, it is possible to suppress co-contraction and achieve smooth movement even during complex movement movements, such as balance movements.

In the example of the standing balance task above, the main action muscles that should be operated to stabilize the subject's posture are sequentially determined, and EMS is presented to the main action muscles at the timing when co-contraction occurs, thereby making it efficient. It is thought that this will realize stable ankle joint movements and contribute to postural stability, such as reducing center of gravity sway.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a co-contraction control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the example shown in FIG. 4, the co-contraction control device 30 according to the above embodiment is configured by, for example, a server computer or a personal computer, and includes hardware such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). It has a processor (hardware processor) 311A. A program memory 311B, a data memory 312, an input/output interface 313, and a communication interface 314 are connected to the hardware processor 311A via a bus 315. . The same applies to the microcomputer 40, electrical stimulation device 50, and distribution server 60 shown in FIG. 1, and the distribution server 60 may be configured by the above-mentioned server computer.

The communication interface 314 includes, for example, one or more wireless communication interface units, and enables transmission and reception of information with a communication network NW. As the wireless interface, for example, an interface adopting a low power wireless data communication standard such as a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) is used.

The motion capture system 10 and electromyograph 20 shown in FIG. 1, and other input devices and output devices (not shown) are connected to the input/output interface 313.
The input/output interface 313 can receive operation data input by a user through an input device such as a keyboard, touch panel, touchpad, mouse, etc., and output data on a liquid crystal or organic display. It is possible to output and display the image on an output device including a display device using EL (Electro Luminescence) or the like. Note that the input device and the output device may be a device built into the co-contraction control device 30, or an input device of another information terminal that can communicate with the co-contraction control device 30 via the network NW. Devices and output devices may also be used.

The program memory 311B is a non-temporary tangible storage medium, such as a non-volatile memory such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive) that can be written to and read from at any time. It is used in combination with a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), and stores programs necessary for executing various control processes and the like according to an embodiment.

The data memory 312 is a tangible storage medium that is used in combination with the above-mentioned nonvolatile memory and volatile memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), and is used to perform various processes. It is used to store various data acquired and created during the process.

The co-contraction control device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a main action muscle threshold determination unit 32, a main action muscle determination unit 33, and a co-contraction threshold determination unit shown in FIG. 2 as processing function units using software. The data processing device may be configured as a data processing device having a co-contraction determining unit 34 and a co-contraction determining unit 35.

Each information storage unit and time-series data storage unit 31 used as a working memory by each part of the co-contraction control device 30 may be configured by using the data memory 312 shown in FIG. 4. However, these storage areas are not essential to the co-contraction control device 30, and may be stored in an external storage medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, or in a database server located in the cloud. It may be an area provided in a storage device such as a database server.

Any of the above processing function units can be realized by causing the hardware processor 311A to read and execute a program stored in the program memory 311B. Note that some or all of these processing functions may be implemented in a variety of other formats, including integrated circuits such as application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). May be realized.

In addition, the method described in each embodiment can be applied to a magnetic disk (floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk) as a program (software means) that can be executed by a computer (computer). etc.), optical discs (CD-ROM, DVD, MO, etc.), semiconductor memories (ROM, RAM, Flash memory, etc.), and are stored in recording media, or transmitted and distributed via communication media. can be done. Note that the programs stored on the medium side also include a setting program for configuring software means (including not only execution programs but also tables and data structures) in the computer to be executed by the computer. A computer that realizes this device reads a program recorded on a recording medium, and if necessary, constructs software means using a setting program, and executes the above-described processing by controlling the operation of the software means. Note that the recording medium referred to in this specification is not limited to one for distribution, and includes storage media such as a magnetic disk and a semiconductor memory provided inside a computer or in a device connected via a network.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be variously modified at the implementation stage without departing from the gist thereof. Moreover, each embodiment may be implemented in combination as appropriate, and in that case, the combined effect can be obtained. Furthermore, the embodiments described above include various inventions, and various inventions can be extracted by combinations selected from the plurality of constituent features disclosed. For example, if a problem can be solved and an effect can be obtained even if some constituent features are deleted from all the constituent features shown in the embodiment, the configuration from which these constituent features are deleted can be extracted as an invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100... Co-contraction control system 10... Motion capture system 11... Body movement evaluation part 20... Electromyograph 21... Myoelectric evaluation part 30... Co-contraction control device 31... Time series data storage part 32... Main action muscle threshold determination part 33 ... Main action muscle determining section 34... Co-contraction threshold determining section 35... Co-contraction determining section 40... Microcomputer (microcomputer)
50...Electrical stimulation device (muscle electrical stimulation device)
51...Electrical stimulation presentation unit 60...Distribution server

Claims (7)

a main action muscle determination unit that determines the main action muscle of the test subject based on time-series data of the body motion of the test subject and a threshold;
Determining whether or not co-contraction occurs between the main action muscle determined by the main action muscle determination unit and the antagonist muscle of the test object, based on the time series data of muscle activity of the test object and a threshold value. a co-contraction determination unit that performs
When the co-contraction determining section determines that the co-contraction is occurring, outputting a control signal for electrical stimulation of the main action muscle determined by the main action muscle determining section to suppress the co-contraction. an output section to
A co-contraction control device comprising: The time series data of muscle activity is data that can be obtained from a server device via a communication network.
The co-contraction control device according to claim 1. The co-shrinkage determination unit includes:
The main action muscle determined by the main action muscle determination unit and the antagonist muscle of the test object based on the time series data and threshold of muscle activity related to the movement of the ankle joint of the test object in the standing balance task. determining whether co-contraction has occurred;
The co-contraction control device according to claim 1. a storage device in which time-series data of muscle activity of the test subject is stored in advance;
In accordance with a distribution request from the co-contraction control device according to claim 1, the time-series data of the muscle activity of the test subject stored in the storage device is distributed to the co-contraction control device via a communication network. Distribution department and
A server device comprising: A method carried out by a co-contraction control device, the method comprising:
The main action muscle determination unit of the co-contraction control device determines the main action muscle of the test subject based on time-series data of the body motion of the test subject and a threshold;
The co-contraction determination unit of the co-contraction control device determines the main action muscle and the antagonist muscle of the test object, which are determined by the main action muscle determination unit, based on time-series data of muscle activity of the test object and a threshold value. Determine whether co-contraction has occurred with
When the output unit of the co-contraction control device determines that the co-contraction is occurring, the main action muscle determination unit determines that the co-contraction is suppressed. Outputs control signals for electrical stimulation of working muscles,
Co-contraction control method. A method carried out by a server device equipped with a storage device in which time-series data of muscle activity of the test subject is stored in advance,
Time-series data of the muscle activity of the subject, which is stored in the storage device by the distribution unit of the server device, in accordance with a distribution request from the co-contraction control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. to the co-contraction control device via a communication network;
Delivery method. A program that causes a processor to function as each section of the co-contraction control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or the distribution section of the server device according to claim 4.

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