Leveraging Extended Windows in End-to-End Deep Learning for Improved Continuous Myoelectric Locomotion Prediction

Current surface electromyography (sEMG) methods for locomotion mode prediction face limitations in anticipatory capability due to computation delays and constrained window lengths typically below 500 ms-a practice historically tied to stationarity requirements of handcrafted feature extraction. This study investigates whether end-to-end convolutional neural networks (CNNs) processing raw sEMG signals can overcome these constraints through extended window lengths (250 ms to 1500 ms). We systematically evaluate six window lengths paired with three prediction horizons (model forecasts 50 ms to 150 ms ahead) in a continuous locomotion task involving eight modes and 16 transitions. The optimal configuration (1000 ms window with 150 ms horizon) achieved subject-average accuracies of 96.93% (steady states) and 97.50% (transient states), maintaining 95.03% and 85.53% respectively in real-time simulations. With a net averaged anticipation time of 147.9 ms after 2.1 ms computation latency, this approach demonstrates that windows covering 74% of the gait cycle can synergize with deep learning to balance the inherent trade-off between extracting richer information and maintaining system responsiveness to changes in activity.