Feature extraction for LSTM-based finger-joint angle estimation from sEMG

Abstract

Continuous estimation of finger-joint angles from surface electromyography (sEMG) is a promising approach for controlling dexterous myoelectric prostheses. Deep time series models have been applied successfully in this context, typically relying on feature extraction rather than raw signals, given limited subject-specific data. Various time-domain and frequency-domain features can be used, extracted for a given window and step size. This study systematically investigates these three design choices for Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) regression on the Ninapro DB2 dataset. Window sizes from 300 to 1200 ms and step sizes from 10 to 100 ms were evaluated in combination with six time- and frequency-domain features. Models were evaluated using regression performance metrics, inference time, and memory footprint to assess feasibility on embedded microcontroller hardware suitable for a prosthetic device. A 300 ms window with a 100 ms step, paired with either the Mean Absolute Value (MAV) or Root Mean Squared (RMS) feature, yielded the best performance (test PCC of 0.779 +/- 0.080 / 0.779 +/- 0.085). Window size, step size, and feature choice were found to interact non-trivially: jointly tuning them can improve both accuracy and computational feasibility for real-time, embedded myoelectric control.