Muscle Activity Detection of Human Upper Limb Using Piezoelectric Based Sensory System

Abstract

Materials with piezoelectricity effect have gained its popularity not only in the area of structural vibration but has been actively used in the area of biomechatronic for the past years. Polyvinylidenefluoride (PVDF) film, a type of piezoelectric polymer materials, is often used as sensing elements to capture signals from human body due to its lightweight and flexibility. In this research, two PVDF films of different lengths were used to study the activity of biceps branchii muscle during arm flexion and extension. A normal and healthy male subject was selected for this experiment and measurements were taken at the flexion angles of 0°, 90° and 145° for 30 seconds. The experiment was also repeated with a load of 4 kg and 7kg. It is seen that shorter PVDF film exhibits better performance. In addition, the higher the load, the higher the voltage generated by the PVDF film.