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- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
- Creators: Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia
- Member of: ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Description
This dissertation presents the development of structural health monitoring and prognostic health management methodologies for complex structures and systems in the field of mechanical engineering. To overcome various challenges historically associated with complex structures and systems such as complicated sensing mechanisms, noisy information, and large-size datasets, a hybrid monitoring framework comprising of solid mechanics concepts and data mining technologies is developed. In such a framework, the solid mechanics simulations provide additional intuitions to data mining techniques reducing the dependence of accuracy on the training set, while the data mining approaches fuse and interpret information from the targeted system enabling the capability for real-time monitoring with efficient computation.
In the case of structural health monitoring, ultrasonic guided waves are utilized for damage identification and localization in complex composite structures. Signal processing and data mining techniques are integrated into the damage localization framework, and the converted wave modes, which are induced by the thickness variation due to the presence of delamination, are used as damage indicators. This framework has been validated through experiments and has shown sufficient accuracy in locating delamination in X-COR sandwich composites without the need of baseline information. Besides the localization of internal damage, the Gaussian process machine learning technique is integrated with finite element method as an online-offline prediction model to predict crack propagation with overloads under biaxial loading conditions; such a probabilistic prognosis model, with limited number of training examples, has shown increased accuracy over state-of-the-art techniques in predicting crack retardation behaviors induced by overloads. In the case of system level management, a monitoring framework built using a multivariate Gaussian model as basis is developed to evaluate the anomalous condition of commercial aircrafts. This method has been validated using commercial airline data and has shown high sensitivity to variations in aircraft dynamics and pilot operations. Moreover, this framework was also tested on simulated aircraft faults and its feasibility for real-time monitoring was demonstrated with sufficient computation efficiency.
This research is expected to serve as a practical addition to the existing literature while possessing the potential to be adopted in realistic engineering applications.
In the case of structural health monitoring, ultrasonic guided waves are utilized for damage identification and localization in complex composite structures. Signal processing and data mining techniques are integrated into the damage localization framework, and the converted wave modes, which are induced by the thickness variation due to the presence of delamination, are used as damage indicators. This framework has been validated through experiments and has shown sufficient accuracy in locating delamination in X-COR sandwich composites without the need of baseline information. Besides the localization of internal damage, the Gaussian process machine learning technique is integrated with finite element method as an online-offline prediction model to predict crack propagation with overloads under biaxial loading conditions; such a probabilistic prognosis model, with limited number of training examples, has shown increased accuracy over state-of-the-art techniques in predicting crack retardation behaviors induced by overloads. In the case of system level management, a monitoring framework built using a multivariate Gaussian model as basis is developed to evaluate the anomalous condition of commercial aircrafts. This method has been validated using commercial airline data and has shown high sensitivity to variations in aircraft dynamics and pilot operations. Moreover, this framework was also tested on simulated aircraft faults and its feasibility for real-time monitoring was demonstrated with sufficient computation efficiency.
This research is expected to serve as a practical addition to the existing literature while possessing the potential to be adopted in realistic engineering applications.
ContributorsLi, Guoyi (Ph.D.) (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Mignolet, Marc (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Yekani Fard, Masoud (Committee member) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This action research project centered on a group of instructional technology professionals who provide support to instructors at a public university in the United States. The practical goal of this project was to increase collaboration within the team, and to encourage alignment of the team’s efforts in relation to the university’s proposed redesign of its general education curriculum. Using the communities of practice perspective as a model for the team’s development, participants engaged in a sixteen-week activity in which they studied and discussed aspects of the proposed curriculum, and then used that knowledge to observe classes and compare the extent to which classroom pedagogy at the time aligned with the aims of the proposed curriculum. This qualitative action research study then explored how the team used these experiences to construct knowledge and the extent to which the group came to resemble a community of practice. Additionally, this study explored the changes that took place in the group’s capacity to interpret instructional environments. The first major finding was that the group’s identity changed from being one characterized by relationship management with their clientele to one that aligned with the institution’s instructional priorities and could be projected into the future to devise coordinated plans in support of those priorities. A second major finding was that the team developed a group-specific language and a rudimentary capacity to interpret instructional environments as a group.
ContributorsLang, Andrew (Author) / Gee, Elisabeth (Thesis advisor) / Koro-Ljungberg, Mirka (Committee member) / Hogan, Kelly (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Model Based Automatic and Robust Spike Sorting for Large Volumes of Multi-channel Extracellular Data
Description
Spike sorting is a critical step for single-unit-based analysis of neural activities extracellularly and simultaneously recorded using multi-channel electrodes. When dealing with recordings from very large numbers of neurons, existing methods, which are mostly semiautomatic in nature, become inadequate.
This dissertation aims at automating the spike sorting process. A high performance, automatic and computationally efficient spike detection and clustering system, namely, the M-Sorter2 is presented. The M-Sorter2 employs the modified multiscale correlation of wavelet coefficients (MCWC) for neural spike detection. At the center of the proposed M-Sorter2 are two automatic spike clustering methods. They share a common hierarchical agglomerative modeling (HAM) model search procedure to strategically form a sequence of mixture models, and a new model selection criterion called difference of model evidence (DoME) to automatically determine the number of clusters. The M-Sorter2 employs two methods differing by how they perform clustering to infer model parameters: one uses robust variational Bayes (RVB) and the other uses robust Expectation-Maximization (REM) for Student’s 𝑡-mixture modeling. The M-Sorter2 is thus a significantly improved approach to sorting as an automatic procedure.
M-Sorter2 was evaluated and benchmarked with popular algorithms using simulated, artificial and real data with truth that are openly available to researchers. Simulated datasets with known statistical distributions were first used to illustrate how the clustering algorithms, namely REMHAM and RVBHAM, provide robust clustering results under commonly experienced performance degrading conditions, such as random initialization of parameters, high dimensionality of data, low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), ambiguous clusters, and asymmetry in cluster sizes. For the artificial dataset from single-channel recordings, the proposed sorter outperformed Wave_Clus, Plexon’s Offline Sorter and Klusta in most of the comparison cases. For the real dataset from multi-channel electrodes, tetrodes and polytrodes, the proposed sorter outperformed all comparison algorithms in terms of false positive and false negative rates. The software package presented in this dissertation is available for open access.
This dissertation aims at automating the spike sorting process. A high performance, automatic and computationally efficient spike detection and clustering system, namely, the M-Sorter2 is presented. The M-Sorter2 employs the modified multiscale correlation of wavelet coefficients (MCWC) for neural spike detection. At the center of the proposed M-Sorter2 are two automatic spike clustering methods. They share a common hierarchical agglomerative modeling (HAM) model search procedure to strategically form a sequence of mixture models, and a new model selection criterion called difference of model evidence (DoME) to automatically determine the number of clusters. The M-Sorter2 employs two methods differing by how they perform clustering to infer model parameters: one uses robust variational Bayes (RVB) and the other uses robust Expectation-Maximization (REM) for Student’s 𝑡-mixture modeling. The M-Sorter2 is thus a significantly improved approach to sorting as an automatic procedure.
M-Sorter2 was evaluated and benchmarked with popular algorithms using simulated, artificial and real data with truth that are openly available to researchers. Simulated datasets with known statistical distributions were first used to illustrate how the clustering algorithms, namely REMHAM and RVBHAM, provide robust clustering results under commonly experienced performance degrading conditions, such as random initialization of parameters, high dimensionality of data, low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), ambiguous clusters, and asymmetry in cluster sizes. For the artificial dataset from single-channel recordings, the proposed sorter outperformed Wave_Clus, Plexon’s Offline Sorter and Klusta in most of the comparison cases. For the real dataset from multi-channel electrodes, tetrodes and polytrodes, the proposed sorter outperformed all comparison algorithms in terms of false positive and false negative rates. The software package presented in this dissertation is available for open access.
ContributorsMa, Weichao (Author) / Si, Jennie (Thesis advisor) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / He, Jingrui (Committee member) / Helms Tillery, Stephen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Advanced aerospace materials, including fiber reinforced polymer and ceramic matrix composites, are increasingly being used in critical and demanding applications, challenging the current damage prediction, detection, and quantification methodologies. Multiscale computational models offer key advantages over traditional analysis techniques and can provide the necessary capabilities for the development of a comprehensive virtual structural health monitoring (SHM) framework. Virtual SHM has the potential to drastically improve the design and analysis of aerospace components through coupling the complementary capabilities of models able to predict the initiation and propagation of damage under a wide range of loading and environmental scenarios, simulate interrogation methods for damage detection and quantification, and assess the health of a structure. A major component of the virtual SHM framework involves having micromechanics-based multiscale composite models that can provide the elastic, inelastic, and damage behavior of composite material systems under mechanical and thermal loading conditions and in the presence of microstructural complexity and variability. Quantification of the role geometric and architectural variability in the composite microstructure plays in the local and global composite behavior is essential to the development of appropriate scale-dependent unit cells and boundary conditions for the multiscale model. Once the composite behavior is predicted and variability effects assessed, wave-based SHM simulation models serve to provide knowledge on the probability of detection and characterization accuracy of damage present in the composite. The research presented in this dissertation provides the foundation for a comprehensive SHM framework for advanced aerospace materials. The developed models enhance the prediction of damage formation as a result of ceramic matrix composite processing, improve the understanding of the effects of architectural and geometric variability in polymer matrix composites, and provide an accurate and computational efficient modeling scheme for simulating guided wave excitation, propagation, interaction with damage, and sensing in a range of materials. The methodologies presented in this research represent substantial progress toward the development of an accurate and generalized virtual SHM framework.
ContributorsBorkowski, Luke (Author) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Thesis advisor) / Liu, Yongming (Committee member) / Mignolet, Marc (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Rajadas, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The utilization of power cables is increasing with the development of renewable energy and the maintenance replacement of old overhead power lines. Therefore, effective monitoring and accurate fault location for power cables are very important for the sake of a stable power supply.
The recent technologies for power cable diagnosis and temperature monitoring system are described including their intrinsic limitations for cable health assessment. Power cable fault location methods are reviewed with two main categories: off-line and on-line data based methods.
As a diagnostic and fault location approach, a new passive methodology is introduced. This methodology is based on analyzing the resonant frequencies of the transfer function between the input and output of the power cable system. The equivalent pi model is applied to the resonant frequency calculation for the selected underground power cable transmission system.
The characteristics of the resonant frequencies are studied by analytical derivations and PSCAD simulations. It is found that the variation of load magnitudes and change of positive power factors (i.e., inductive loads) do not affect resonant frequencies significantly, but there is considerable movement of resonant frequencies under change of negative power factors (i.e., capacitive loads).
Power cable fault conditions introduce new resonant frequencies in accordance with fault positions. Similar behaviors of the resonant frequencies are shown in a transformer (TR) connected power cable system with frequency shifts caused by the TR impedance.
The resonant frequencies can be extracted by frequency analysis of power signals and the inherent noise in these signals plays a key role to measure the resonant frequencies. Window functions provide an effective tool for improving resonant frequency discernment. The frequency analysis is implemented on noise laden PSCAD simulation signals and it reveals identical resonant frequency characteristics with theoretical studies.
Finally, the noise levels of real voltage and current signals, which are acquired from an operating power plant, are estimated and the resonant frequencies are extracted by applying window functions, and these results prove that the resonant frequency can be used as an assessment for the internal changes in power cable parameters such as defects and faults.
The recent technologies for power cable diagnosis and temperature monitoring system are described including their intrinsic limitations for cable health assessment. Power cable fault location methods are reviewed with two main categories: off-line and on-line data based methods.
As a diagnostic and fault location approach, a new passive methodology is introduced. This methodology is based on analyzing the resonant frequencies of the transfer function between the input and output of the power cable system. The equivalent pi model is applied to the resonant frequency calculation for the selected underground power cable transmission system.
The characteristics of the resonant frequencies are studied by analytical derivations and PSCAD simulations. It is found that the variation of load magnitudes and change of positive power factors (i.e., inductive loads) do not affect resonant frequencies significantly, but there is considerable movement of resonant frequencies under change of negative power factors (i.e., capacitive loads).
Power cable fault conditions introduce new resonant frequencies in accordance with fault positions. Similar behaviors of the resonant frequencies are shown in a transformer (TR) connected power cable system with frequency shifts caused by the TR impedance.
The resonant frequencies can be extracted by frequency analysis of power signals and the inherent noise in these signals plays a key role to measure the resonant frequencies. Window functions provide an effective tool for improving resonant frequency discernment. The frequency analysis is implemented on noise laden PSCAD simulation signals and it reveals identical resonant frequency characteristics with theoretical studies.
Finally, the noise levels of real voltage and current signals, which are acquired from an operating power plant, are estimated and the resonant frequencies are extracted by applying window functions, and these results prove that the resonant frequency can be used as an assessment for the internal changes in power cable parameters such as defects and faults.
ContributorsKim, Youngdeug (Author) / Holbert, Keith Edwin (Thesis advisor) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Karady, George G. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
In recent years, there has been an increased interest in sharing available bandwidth to avoid spectrum congestion. With an ever-increasing number wireless users, it is critical to develop signal processing based spectrum sharing algorithms to achieve cooperative use of the allocated spectrum among multiple systems in order to reduce interference between systems. This work studies the radar and communications systems coexistence problem using two main approaches. The first approach develops methodologies to increase radar target tracking performance under low signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) conditions due to the coexistence of strong communications interference. The second approach jointly optimizes the performance of both systems by co-designing a common transmit waveform.
When concentrating on improving radar tracking performance, a pulsed radar that is tracking a single target coexisting with high powered communications interference is considered. Although the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) on the covariance of an unbiased estimator of deterministic parameters provides a bound on the estimation mean squared error (MSE), there exists an SINR threshold at which estimator covariance rapidly deviates from the CRLB. After demonstrating that different radar waveforms experience different estimation SINR thresholds using the Barankin bound (BB), a new radar waveform design method is proposed based on predicting the waveform-dependent BB SINR threshold under low SINR operating conditions.
A novel method of predicting the SINR threshold value for maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is proposed. A relationship is shown to exist between the formulation of the BB kernel and the probability of selecting sidelobes for the MLE. This relationship is demonstrated as an accurate means of threshold prediction for the radar target parameter estimation of frequency, time-delay and angle-of-arrival.
For the co-design radar and communications system problem, the use of a common transmit waveform for a pulse-Doppler radar and a multiuser communications system is proposed. The signaling scheme for each system is selected from a class of waveforms with nonlinear phase function by optimizing the waveform parameters to minimize interference between the two systems and interference among communications users. Using multi-objective optimization, a trade-off in system performance is demonstrated when selecting waveforms that minimize both system interference and tracking MSE.
When concentrating on improving radar tracking performance, a pulsed radar that is tracking a single target coexisting with high powered communications interference is considered. Although the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) on the covariance of an unbiased estimator of deterministic parameters provides a bound on the estimation mean squared error (MSE), there exists an SINR threshold at which estimator covariance rapidly deviates from the CRLB. After demonstrating that different radar waveforms experience different estimation SINR thresholds using the Barankin bound (BB), a new radar waveform design method is proposed based on predicting the waveform-dependent BB SINR threshold under low SINR operating conditions.
A novel method of predicting the SINR threshold value for maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) is proposed. A relationship is shown to exist between the formulation of the BB kernel and the probability of selecting sidelobes for the MLE. This relationship is demonstrated as an accurate means of threshold prediction for the radar target parameter estimation of frequency, time-delay and angle-of-arrival.
For the co-design radar and communications system problem, the use of a common transmit waveform for a pulse-Doppler radar and a multiuser communications system is proposed. The signaling scheme for each system is selected from a class of waveforms with nonlinear phase function by optimizing the waveform parameters to minimize interference between the two systems and interference among communications users. Using multi-objective optimization, a trade-off in system performance is demonstrated when selecting waveforms that minimize both system interference and tracking MSE.
ContributorsKota, John S (Author) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Thesis advisor) / Berisha, Visar (Committee member) / Bliss, Daniel (Committee member) / Kovvali, Narayan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
In-situ fatigue damage diagnosis and prognosis is a challenging problem for both metallic and composite materials and structures. There are various uncertainties arising from material properties, component geometries, measurement noise, feature extraction techniques, and modeling errors. It is essential to manage and incorporate these uncertainties in order to achieve accurate damage detection and remaining useful life (RUL) prediction.
The aim of this study is to develop an integrated fatigue damage diagnosis and prognosis framework for both metallic and composite materials. First, Lamb waves are used as the in-situ damage detection technique to interrogate the damaged structures. Both experimental and numerical analysis for the Lamb wave propagation within aluminum are conducted. The RUL of lap joints under variable and constant fatigue loading is predicted using the Bayesian updating by incorporating damage detection information and various sources of uncertainties. Following this, the effect of matrix cracking and delamination in composite laminates on the Lamb wave propagation is investigated and a generalized probabilistic delamination size and location detection framework using Bayesian imaging method (BIM) is proposed and validated using the composite fatigue testing data. The RUL of the open-hole specimen is predicted using the overall stiffness degradation under fatigue loading. Next, the adjoint method-based damage detection framework is proposed considering the physics of heat conduction or elastic wave propagation. Different from the classical wave propagation-based method, the received signal under pristine condition is not necessary for estimating the damage information. This method can be successfully used for arbitrary damage location and shape profiling for any materials with higher accuracy and resolution. Finally, some conclusions and future work are generated based on the current investigation.
The aim of this study is to develop an integrated fatigue damage diagnosis and prognosis framework for both metallic and composite materials. First, Lamb waves are used as the in-situ damage detection technique to interrogate the damaged structures. Both experimental and numerical analysis for the Lamb wave propagation within aluminum are conducted. The RUL of lap joints under variable and constant fatigue loading is predicted using the Bayesian updating by incorporating damage detection information and various sources of uncertainties. Following this, the effect of matrix cracking and delamination in composite laminates on the Lamb wave propagation is investigated and a generalized probabilistic delamination size and location detection framework using Bayesian imaging method (BIM) is proposed and validated using the composite fatigue testing data. The RUL of the open-hole specimen is predicted using the overall stiffness degradation under fatigue loading. Next, the adjoint method-based damage detection framework is proposed considering the physics of heat conduction or elastic wave propagation. Different from the classical wave propagation-based method, the received signal under pristine condition is not necessary for estimating the damage information. This method can be successfully used for arbitrary damage location and shape profiling for any materials with higher accuracy and resolution. Finally, some conclusions and future work are generated based on the current investigation.
ContributorsPeng, Tishun (Author) / Liu, Yongming (Thesis advisor) / Chattopadhyay, Aditi (Committee member) / Mignolet, Marc (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Tang, Pingbo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
This work examines two main areas in model-based time-varying signal processing with emphasis in speech processing applications. The first area concentrates on improving speech intelligibility and on increasing the proposed methodologies application for clinical practice in speech-language pathology. The second area concentrates on signal expansions matched to physical-based models but without requiring independent basis functions; the significance of this work is demonstrated with speech vowels.
A fully automated Vowel Space Area (VSA) computation method is proposed that can be applied to any type of speech. It is shown that the VSA provides an efficient and reliable measure and is correlated to speech intelligibility. A clinical tool that incorporates the automated VSA was proposed for evaluation and treatment to be used by speech language pathologists. Two exploratory studies are performed using two databases by analyzing mean formant trajectories in healthy speech for a wide range of speakers, dialects, and coarticulation contexts. It is shown that phonemes crowded in formant space can often have distinct trajectories, possibly due to accurate perception.
A theory for analyzing time-varying signals models with amplitude modulation and frequency modulation is developed. Examples are provided that demonstrate other possible signal model decompositions with independent basis functions and corresponding physical interpretations. The Hilbert transform (HT) and the use of the analytic form of a signal are motivated, and a proof is provided to show that a signal can still preserve desirable mathematical properties without the use of the HT. A visualization of the Hilbert spectrum is proposed to aid in the interpretation. A signal demodulation is proposed and used to develop a modified Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) algorithm.
A fully automated Vowel Space Area (VSA) computation method is proposed that can be applied to any type of speech. It is shown that the VSA provides an efficient and reliable measure and is correlated to speech intelligibility. A clinical tool that incorporates the automated VSA was proposed for evaluation and treatment to be used by speech language pathologists. Two exploratory studies are performed using two databases by analyzing mean formant trajectories in healthy speech for a wide range of speakers, dialects, and coarticulation contexts. It is shown that phonemes crowded in formant space can often have distinct trajectories, possibly due to accurate perception.
A theory for analyzing time-varying signals models with amplitude modulation and frequency modulation is developed. Examples are provided that demonstrate other possible signal model decompositions with independent basis functions and corresponding physical interpretations. The Hilbert transform (HT) and the use of the analytic form of a signal are motivated, and a proof is provided to show that a signal can still preserve desirable mathematical properties without the use of the HT. A visualization of the Hilbert spectrum is proposed to aid in the interpretation. A signal demodulation is proposed and used to develop a modified Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) algorithm.
ContributorsSandoval, Steven, 1984- (Author) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Thesis advisor) / Liss, Julie M (Committee member) / Turaga, Pavan (Committee member) / Kovvali, Narayan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Biological and biomedical measurements, when adequately analyzed and processed, can be used to impart quantitative diagnosis during primary health care consultation to improve patient adherence to recommended treatments. For example, analyzing neural recordings from neurostimulators implanted in patients with neurological disorders can be used by a physician to adjust detrimental stimulation parameters to improve treatment. As another example, biosequences, such as sequences from peptide microarrays obtained from a biological sample, can potentially provide pre-symptomatic diagnosis for infectious diseases when processed to associate antibodies to specific pathogens or infectious agents. This work proposes advanced statistical signal processing and machine learning methodologies to assess neurostimulation from neural recordings and to extract diagnostic information from biosequences.
For locating specific cognitive and behavioral information in different regions of the brain, neural recordings are processed using sequential Bayesian filtering methods to detect and estimate both the number of neural sources and their corresponding parameters. Time-frequency based feature selection algorithms are combined with adaptive machine learning approaches to suppress physiological and non-physiological artifacts present in neural recordings. Adaptive processing and unsupervised clustering methods applied to neural recordings are also used to suppress neurostimulation artifacts and classify between various behavior tasks to assess the level of neurostimulation in patients.
For pathogen detection and identification, random peptide sequences and their properties are first uniquely mapped to highly-localized signals and their corresponding parameters in the time-frequency plane. Time-frequency signal processing methods are then applied to estimate antigenic determinants or epitope candidates for detecting and identifying potential pathogens.
For locating specific cognitive and behavioral information in different regions of the brain, neural recordings are processed using sequential Bayesian filtering methods to detect and estimate both the number of neural sources and their corresponding parameters. Time-frequency based feature selection algorithms are combined with adaptive machine learning approaches to suppress physiological and non-physiological artifacts present in neural recordings. Adaptive processing and unsupervised clustering methods applied to neural recordings are also used to suppress neurostimulation artifacts and classify between various behavior tasks to assess the level of neurostimulation in patients.
For pathogen detection and identification, random peptide sequences and their properties are first uniquely mapped to highly-localized signals and their corresponding parameters in the time-frequency plane. Time-frequency signal processing methods are then applied to estimate antigenic determinants or epitope candidates for detecting and identifying potential pathogens.
ContributorsMaurer, Alexander Joseph (Author) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Thesis advisor) / Bliss, Daniel (Committee member) / Chakrabarti, Chaitali (Committee member) / Kovvali, Narayan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
In the last 15 years, there has been a significant increase in the number of motor neural prostheses used for restoring limb function lost due to neurological disorders or accidents. The aim of this technology is to enable patients to control a motor prosthesis using their residual neural pathways (central or peripheral). Recent studies in non-human primates and humans have shown the possibility of controlling a prosthesis for accomplishing varied tasks such as self-feeding, typing, reaching, grasping, and performing fine dexterous movements. A neural decoding system comprises mainly of three components: (i) sensors to record neural signals, (ii) an algorithm to map neural recordings to upper limb kinematics and (iii) a prosthetic arm actuated by control signals generated by the algorithm. Machine learning algorithms that map input neural activity to the output kinematics (like finger trajectory) form the core of the neural decoding system. The choice of the algorithm is thus, mainly imposed by the neural signal of interest and the output parameter being decoded. The various parts of a neural decoding system are neural data, feature extraction, feature selection, and machine learning algorithm. There have been significant advances in the field of neural prosthetic applications. But there are challenges for translating a neural prosthesis from a laboratory setting to a clinical environment. To achieve a fully functional prosthetic device with maximum user compliance and acceptance, these factors need to be addressed and taken into consideration. Three challenges in developing robust neural decoding systems were addressed by exploring neural variability in the peripheral nervous system for dexterous finger movements, feature selection methods based on clinically relevant metrics and a novel method for decoding dexterous finger movements based on ensemble methods.
ContributorsPadmanaban, Subash (Author) / Greger, Bradley (Thesis advisor) / Santello, Marco (Committee member) / Helms Tillery, Stephen (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Crook, Sharon (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017