Arm support devices are available to support people with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), but active trunk support devices are lacking. An active trunk support device can potentially extend the reach of the arm and stabilize the unstable trunk of people with DMD. In a previous study, we showed that healthy people were able to control an active trunk support using four different control interfaces (based on joystick, force on feet, force on sternum and surface electromyography). All four control interfaces had different advantages and disadvantages. The aim of this study was to explore which of the four inputs is detectably used by people with DMD to control an active trunk support. The results were subject-dependent in both experiments. In the active experiment, the joystick was the most promising control interface. Regarding the static experiment, surface electromyography and force on feet worked for two out of the three subjects. To our knowledge, this is the first time that people with DMD have engaged in a control task using signals other than those related to their arm muscles. According to our findings, the control interfaces have to be customised to every DMD subject.

中文翻译：

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探索杜氏肌营养不良症患者的生理信号以获得积极的躯干支持：案例研究。

手臂支撑装置可用于支持杜氏肌营养不良症 (DMD) 患者，但缺乏主动躯干支撑装置。主动式躯干支撑装置可能会延长手臂的伸展范围并稳定 DMD 患者不稳定的躯干。在之前的一项研究中，我们表明健康人能够使用四种不同的控制界面（基于操纵杆、脚上的力、胸骨上的力和表面肌电图）来控制主动式躯干支撑。所有四个控制接口都有不同的优点和缺点。本研究的目的是探索 DMD 患者可检测到使用四个输入中的哪一个来控制主动躯干支持。结果在两个实验中都取决于受试者。在主动实验中，操纵杆是最有希望的控制界面。关于静态实验，表面肌电图和足部受力对三个受试者中的两个起作用。据我们所知，这是 DMD 患者第一次使用与手臂肌肉相关的信号以外的信号进行控制任务。根据我们的发现，控制界面必须针对每个 DMD 主题进行定制。