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Wearable fatigue detection system for wheelchair propulsion: Identifying key muscles via an attention-based LSTM Model

delete2026-07-13
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PRE
AI
L
Liping Qi *
X
Xiuyu Cui
J
Jiwang Zhang
M
Martin Ferguson-Pell
T
Tao Sun
DOI:10.1080/10400435.2026.2699367delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Fatigue induces adverse short- and long-term health risks in wheelchair users. This study aimed to develop a machine learning approach to predict fatigue onset during wheelchair incremental exercise via surface electromyography (sEMG). sEMG from eight upper-limb muscles and oxygen uptake data were collected from nine wheelchair users (3 females, 6 males) performing incremental wheelchair propulsion on an ergometer. Ventilatory threshold (VT) derived from oxygen uptake was defined as the fatigue onset label, with sEMG signals as predictive features. A dynamic weighted attention long short-term memory (DWA-LSTM) model was built to distinguish non-fatigued and fatigue-transition propulsion cycles and identify critical muscle contributors. The model achieved an average classification accuracy of 94.82% using eight-muscle sEMG intensity. Notably, single-channel pectoralis major sEMG still yielded 89% accuracy. These findings indicate wearable fatigue monitoring systems may rely on single-muscle EMG to detect propulsion-related fatigue onset.
Keywords:
Dynamic weighted attention-long-short-term memory model
electromyography
exercise-induce fatigue
oxygen uptake
spinal cord injury

Journal

A
Assistive Technology
IF:
2.5
Papers:
159
Citations:
1.6K

Organization

U
university of alberta
Scholars:
5.0W
Papers: 4.9W
Citations: 64
D
Dalian University of Technology
Scholars:
5.7W
Papers: 4.3W
Citations: 5.5W
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