Studying What Makes Muscles Move
Ted Clancy explains to graduate student John David Quartararo the intricacies of a sensor that measures the electrical signals produced by muscles.
by Eileen McCluskey
Ted Clancy, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, studies natural body tissue as part of his work to improve powered artificial limbs. Using a densely spaced array of small electrodes developed in his lab, Clancy studies the complex electrical signals produced by muscles to create movement, examining which muscle groups control specific motions.
Clancy's interest in muscular control began through boyhood interests in sports and engineering, when he "became fascinated with the body, and wondered how engineers could help people." Then, while an undergraduate electrical engineering major at WPI, he discovered biomedical engineering.
Prosthetic limbs that move like their natural counterparts may be a decade or more away, says Clancy. "Up until a few years ago, prosthetic limbs weren't equipped with digital signaling capabilities." Indeed, microcomputer-outfitted prostheses "are just now capable of using the more advanced algorithms that researchers like myself have been developing." But even with the wait, he says, "it's exciting to know we're contributing to technologies that can help people."
Clancy, whose research has been applied to stroke patients to help them re-learn the basics of walking and other mechanical tasks, enjoys collaborating with a diverse team of scientists, engineers, and physicians across the globe. Among these colleagues are Paolo Bonato, director of the motion analysis laboratory at Boston's Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital; Gary Kamen, professor of kinesiology at UMass Amherst; Roberto Merletti, director of the Laboratory for Engineering of the Neuromuscular System at Politecnico di Torino in Italy; Dario Farina, associate professor at Aalbory University in Denmark; and Denis Rancort, professor at the Université de Sherbrooke in Canada.
In the photo (left): Physicians insert needles to evaluate the electrical activity of muscles when diagnosing various neuromuscular disorders. Ted Clancy and his students have been working on an alternative: a noninvasive array of surface sensors. A key challenge is to make the sensors more selective, so as to focus on the activity in one portion of a muscle without interference from other areas. The graph shows the difference a more selective technique makes when two signals (left and right in the graph) move through the same muscle. In the dotted line, obtained with a less selective method, both signals appear.
Maintained by webmaster@wpi.eduLast modified: January 05, 2009 11:08:34