A patient-specific musculoskeletal model, whose parameters can be identified noninvasively, was developed for the automatic generation of patient-specific stimulation pattern in FES. The musculotendon system was modeled as a torque-generator and all the passive systems of the musculotendon working at the same joint were included in the skeletal model. Through this, it became possible that the whole model to be identified by using the experimental joint torque or the joint angle trajectories. The model parameters were grouped as recruitment of muscle fibers, passive skeletal system, static and dynamic musculotendon systems, which were identified later in sequence. The parameters in each group were successfully estimated and the maximum normalized RMS errors in all the estimation process was 8%. The model predictions with estimated parameter values were in a good agreement with the experimental results for the sinusoidal, triangular and sawlike stimulation, where the normalized RMS error was less than 17%, Above results show that the suggested musculoskeletal model and its parameter estimation method is reliable.
|