Development and demonstration of a wireless system for measuring and recording surface myoelectric (EMG) activity is proposed herein. The system will use low-profile, low-power, Remote Sensor Units (RSUs) worn by the subject to pre-process, digitize, temporarily store, and transmit surface EMG data to a System Interface Unit (SIU) receiver for real-time display and archiving on a base station PC. Additional features of the proposed system include: (1) extremely small size, (2) simultaneous 16-channel data collection, (synchronized to within one microsecond across channels), (3) high-speed sampling (2 kHz per channel), (4) both digital and analog outputs at the SIU, and (5) high-speed (Universal Serial Bus) interface between SIU and base station PC. The system offers the following advantages over existing, commercially-available surface EMG data acquisition systems: (1) lower cost, (2) completely wireless operation, permitting free and unrestricted subject movement, (3) reduced """"""""noise,"""""""" since signal motion artifact associated with wires is eliminated and because the EMG signal is conditioned and digitized at the electrode site (active electrode), (4) potential for reducing physiological cross-talk (with use of double-differential electrode configuration), and (5) greater portability, since the RSUs are just slightly larger than the required spacing between electrode contacts.
