Kian Jalaleddini

Subspace Identification of SISO Hammerstein Systems: Application to Stretch Reflex Identification

This paper describes a new subspace-based algorithm for the identification of Hammerstein systems. It extends a previous approach which described the Hammerstein cascade by a state-space model and identified it with subspace methods that are fast and require little a priori knowledge. The resulting state-space models predict the system response well but have many redundant parameters and provide limited insight into the system since they depend on both the nonlinear and linear elements. This paper addresses these issues by reformulating the problem so that there are many fewer parameters and each parameter is related directly to either the linear dynamics or the static nonlinearity. Consequently, it is straightforward to construct the continuous-time Hammerstein models corresponding to the estimated state-space model. Simulation studies demonstrated that the new method performs better than other well-known methods in the nonideal conditions that prevail during practical experiments. Moreover, it accurately distinguished changes in the linear component from those in the static nonlinearity. The practical application of the new algorithm was demonstrated by applying it to experimental data from a study of the stretch reflex at the human ankle. Hammerstein models were estimated between the velocity of ankle perturbations and the EMG activity of triceps surae for voluntary contractions in the plantarflexing and dorsiflexion directions. The resulting models described the behavior well, displayed the expected unidirectional rate sensitivity, and revealed that both the gain of the linear element and the threshold of the nonlinear changed with contraction direction.

A Subspace Approach to the Structural Decomposition and Identification of Ankle Joint Dynamic Stiffness

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to present a structural decomposition subspace (SDSS) method for decomposition of the joint torque to intrinsic, reflexive, and voluntary torques and identification of joint dynamic stiffness. Methods: First, it formulates a novel state-space representation for the joint dynamic stiffness modeled by a parallel-cascade structure with a concise parameter set that provides a direct link between the state-space representation matrices and the parallel-cascade parameters. Second, it presents a subspace method for the identification of the new state-space model that involves two steps: 1) the decomposition of the intrinsic and reflex pathways and 2) the identification of an impulse response model of the intrinsic pathway and a Hammerstein model of the reflex pathway. Results: Extensive simulation studies demonstrate that SDSS has significant performance advantages over some other methods. Thus, SDSS was more robust under high noise conditions, converging where others failed; it was more accurate, giving estimates with lower bias and random errors. The method also worked well in practice and yielded high-quality estimates of intrinsic and reflex stiffnesses when applied to experimental data at three muscle activation levels. Conclusion: The simulation and experimental results demonstrate that SDSS accurately decomposes the intrinsic and reflex torques and provides accurate estimates of physiologically meaningful parameters. Significance: SDSS will be a valuable tool for studying joint stiffness under functionally important conditions. It has important clinical implications for the diagnosis, assessment, objective quantification, and monitoring of neuromuscular diseases that change the muscle tone.

Linear parameter varying identification of ankle joint intrinsic stiffness during imposed walking movements

This paper describes a novel model structure and identification method for the time-varying, intrinsic stiffness of human ankle joint during imposed walking (IW) movements. The model structure is based on the superposition of a large signal, linear, time-invariant (LTI) model and a small signal linear-parameter varying (LPV) model. The methodology is based on a two-step algorithm; the LTI model is first estimated using data from an unperturbed IW trial. Then, the LPV model is identified using data from a perturbed IW trial with the output predictions of the LTI model removed from the measured torque. Experimental results demonstrate that the method accurately tracks the continuous-time variation of normal ankle intrinsic stiffness when the joint position changes during the IW movement. Intrinsic stiffness gain decreases from full plantarflexion to near the mid-point of plantarflexion and then increases substantially as the ankle is dosriflexed.

Neuromorphic meets neuromechanics, part II: the role of fusimotor drive

OBJECTIVE We studied the fundamentals of muscle afferentation by building a Neuro-mechano-morphic system actuating a cadaveric finger. This system is a faithful implementation of the stretch reflex circuitry. It allowed the systematic exploration of the effects of different fusimotor drives to the muscle spindle on the closed-loop stretch reflex response. APPROACH As in Part I of this work, sensory neurons conveyed proprioceptive information from muscle spindles (with static and dynamic fusimotor drive) to populations of α-motor neurons (with recruitment and rate coding properties). The motor commands were transformed into tendon forces by a Hill-type muscle model (with activation-contraction dynamics) via brushless DC motors. Two independent afferented muscles emulated the forces of flexor digitorum profundus and the extensor indicis proprius muscles, forming an antagonist pair at the metacarpophalangeal joint of a cadaveric index finger. We measured the physical response to repetitions of bi-directional ramp-and-hold rotational perturbations for 81 combinations of static and dynamic fusimotor drives, across four ramp velocities, and three levels of constant cortical drive to the α-motor neuron pool. MAIN RESULTS We found that this system produced responses compatible with the physiological literature. Fusimotor and cortical drives had nonlinear effects on the reflex forces. In particular, only cortical drive affected the sensitivity of reflex forces to static fusimotor drive. In contrast, both static fusimotor and cortical drives reduced the sensitivity to dynamic fusimotor drive. Interestingly, realistic signal-dependent motor noise emerged naturally in our system without having been explicitly modeled. SIGNIFICANCE We demonstrate that these fundamental features of spinal afferentation sufficed to produce muscle function. As such, our Neuro-mechano-morphic system is a viable platform to study the spinal mechanisms for healthy muscle function-and its pathologies such as dystonia and spasticity. In addition, it is a working prototype of a robust biomorphic controller for compliant robotic limbs and exoskeletons.

Analysis and modeling of noise in biomedical systems

Noise characteristics play an important role in evaluating tools developed to study biomedical systems. Despite usual assumptions, noise in biomedical systems is often nonwhite or non-Gaussian. In this paper, we present a method to analyze the noise component of a biomedical system. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the method in the analysis of noise in voluntary ankle torque measured by a torque transducer and eye movements measured by electro-oculography (EOG).

Identification of a parametric, discrete-time model of ankle stiffness

Dynamic ankle joint stiffness defines the relationship between the position of the ankle and the torque acting about it and can be separated into intrinsic and reflex components. Under stationary conditions, intrinsic stiffness can described by a linear second order system while reflex stiffness is described by Hammerstein system whose input is delayed velocity. Given that reflex and intrinsic torque cannot be measured separately, there has been much interest in the development of system identification techniques to separate them analytically. To date, most methods have been nonparametric and as a result there is no direct link between the estimated parameters and those of the stiffness model. This paper presents a novel algorithm for identification of a discrete-time model of ankle stiffness. Through simulations we show that the algorithm gives unbiased results even in the presence of large, non-white noise. Application of the method to experimental data demonstrates that it produces results consistent with previous findings.

Estimation of the gain and threshold of the stretch reflex with a novel subspace identification algorithm

Reflex stiffness is often modeled as a Hammerstein system comprising a cascade of a static nonlinear element and a linear dynamic element. The nonlinearity is frequently modeled as a half wave rectifier so that changes in the reflex response can only be modeled by changes in the parameters of the linear element. This is an oversimplification since there are physiological mechanisms that could change both the threshold of the nonlinearity and the linear dynamics. This study explores the ability of a new subspace identification algorithm to distinguish changes in parameters of the nonlinear element from those of the linear element. Simulation studies demonstrate that the method does so very effectively even in the presence of substantial output noise. Pilot experiments in which the method was applied to stretch reflex EMG data revealed that both the threshold of the nonlinearity and the gain of the linear element change with muscle activation.

Ankle Joint Intrinsic Dynamics is More Complex than a Mass-Spring-Damper Model

This paper describes a new small signal parametric model of ankle joint intrinsic mechanics in normal subjects. We found that intrinsic ankle mechanics is a third-order system and the second-order mass-spring-damper model, referred to as IBK, used by many researchers in the literature cannot adequately represent ankle dynamics at all frequencies in a number of important tasks. This was demonstrated using experimental data from five healthy subjects with no voluntary muscle contraction and at seven ankle positions covering the range of motion. We showed that the difference between the new third-order model and the conventional IBK model increased from dorsi to plantarflexed position. The new model was obtained using a multi-step identification procedure applied to experimental input/output data of the ankle joint. The procedure first identifies a non-parametric model of intrinsic joint stiffness where ankle position is the input and torque is the output. Then, in several steps, the model is converted into a continuous-time transfer function of ankle compliance, which is the inverse of stiffness. Finally, we showed that the third-order model is indeed structurally consistent with agonist–antagonist musculoskeletal structure of human ankle, which is not the case for the IBK model.

Identification of ankle joint stiffness during passive movements--a subspace linear parameter varying approach.

This paper describes a novel method for the identification of time-varying ankle joint dynamic stiffness during large passive movements. The method estimates a linear parameter varying parallel-cascade (LPV-PC) model of joint stiffness consisting of two pathways: (a) an LPV impulse response function (IRF) for intrinsic mechanics and (b) an LPV Hammerstein cascade with time-varying static nonlinearity and a time-invariant linear dynamics for the reflex pathway. A subspace identification technique is used to estimate a statespace representation of the reflex stiffness dynamics. Then, an orthogonal projection decouples intrinsic from reflex response and subsequently identifies an LPV-IRF model of intrinsic stiffness. Finally, an LPV model of the reflex static nonlinearity is estimated using an iterative, separable least squares method. The LPV method was validated using experimental data from two healthy subjects where the ankle was moved passively by an actuator through its range of motion first without and then with perturbations. The identification results demonstrated that (a) the dynamic response of the intrinsic pathway changes systematically with joint position; and (b) the static nonlinearity of the reflex pathway resembles a half-wave rectifier whose threshold decreases and gain increases as ankle is moved to dorsiflexed position.

Subspace method decomposition and identification of the parallel-cascade model of ankle joint stiffness: Theory and simulation

This paper describes a state-space representation of the parallel-cascade model of ankle joint stiffness whose parameters are directly related to the underlying dynamics of the system. It then proposes a two step subspace method to identify this model. In the first step, the intrinsic stiffness is estimated using proper orthogonal projections. In the second step, the reflexive pathway is estimated by iterating between estimating its nonlinear and linear components. The identified models can be easily converted to continuous-time for physiological interpretation. Monte-Carlo studies using simulated data which replicate closely the experimental conditions, were used to compare the performance of the new method with the previous parallel-cascade, and subspace methods. The new method is more robust to noise and is guaranteed to converge.