Test–Retest Reliability of Static EMG Scan Configural Profiling

Measurement techniques or instruments are typically evaluated along the dimensions of reliability and validity. The focus of this investigation was to assess the test–retest reliability of a static EMG scan profile (sESP) method using 64 chronic pain participants. The test–retest interval was 30–33 days. Reliability coefficients were expressed using the Profile Similarity Coefficient (r _p) in place of the more traditional Pearson Product Moment Correlation. sESP reliabilities were calculated for posture laterality for the head and neck, back, and overall profiles (head, neck, and back combined). The reliability coefficients ranged from .57 to .80. The back profile was the least reliable with a range of .55–.59 whereas the overall profiles were the most reliable, .78–.80. The analysis method was judged to be very conservative with its use of r _p, a protracted intertest interval period, and weighting the data by their variances. These results can be viewed as setting the lower reliability limit for sESP.     

Biobehavioral Intervention for Older Adults Coping with Essential Tremor

Four questions were addressed: (a) does biobehavioral intervention result in within-session reduction of tremor severity; (b) do relaxation and electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback training produce differential effects; (c) do within-session treatment effects generalize to daily performance; and (d) are reductions in tremor severity maintained at follow-up assessment? Three adults, ages 51, 77, and 83, each with a diagnosis of essential tremor (ET), and a long standing history of tremor of the hands uncontrolled by medication, took part. A repeated pre–post-training single-case experimental design embedded within a sequential A–B–C–D design was used; in addition, 1 participant received a return to the B phase. Outcome measures included within-session clinical and self-ratings of tremor severity, surface electromyography (sEMG) of forearm muscles, and daily self-ratings of tremor at home. Tremor was measured while participants engaged in eating or drinking tasks. The Behavioral Relaxation Scale (BRS) served as a process measure to assess relaxation proficiency. Clinical ratings of tremor and the BRS had high interobserver agreement. Visual inspection and statistical tests of single-case data were used to evaluate outcomes. Each participant showed significant within-session improvements on various measures of tremor and improvement during intervention as compared to baseline phases. There were no clear-cut differences between relaxation and biofeedback phases. Improvements declined somewhat at a 12-week follow-up. Relationships among measures of tremor are discussed. Biobehavioral interventions hold promise for older adults coping with ET. Further research is needed using an array of biobehavioral measures to assess intervention outcome.     

Muscle activity reduces soft-tissue resonance at heel-strike during walking

Muscle activity has previously been suggested to minimize soft-tissue resonance which occurs at heel-strike during walking and running. If this concept were true then the greatest vibration damping would occur when the input force was closest to the resonant frequency of the soft-tissues at heel-strike. However, this idea has not been tested. The purpose of this study was to test whether muscle activity in the lower extremity is used to damp soft-tissue resonance which occurs at heel-strike during walking. Hard and soft shoe conditions were tested in a randomized block design. Ground reaction forces, soft-tissue accelerations and myoelectric activity were measured during walking for 40 subjects. Soft-tissue mass was estimated from anthropologic measurements, allowing inertial forces in the soft-tissues to be calculated. The force transfer from the ground to the tissues was compared with changes in the muscle activity. The soft condition resulted in relative frequencies (input/tissue) to be closer to resonance for the main soft-tissue groups. However, no increase in force transmission was observed. Therefore, the vibration damping in the tissues must have increased. This increase concurred with increases in the muscle activity for the biceps femoris and lateral gastrocnemius. The evidence supports the proposal that muscle activity damps soft-tissue resonance at heel-strike. Muscles generate forces which act across the joints and, therefore, shoe design may be used to modify muscle activity and thus joint loading during walking and running.     

The use of surface electromyographic techniques in assessing musculoskeletal disorders in production operations

The use of surface electromyographic (SEMG) techniques in evaluating production line workstations is illustrated through the use of two case studies. Evaluation procedures are introduced. The results illustrate how SEMG can be used to document the strain upon muscles of the neck and shoulders and how workstations may be altered to comply with government regulations.     

The history of surface electromyography

The history of muscle pain and dysfunction is viewed through the lens of a four factor theory of histologic (tissue related) issues, psychologic (emotional) issues, sensory motor (movement) issues, and biomechanical (postural) issues. The historical antecedents of surface electromyography are reviewed.     

女子拳击运动员上肢和腰部肌肉力量训练的肌电分析

目的：利用肌电指标分析拳击运动员上肢和腰部肌肉力量训练效果。方法：用Mega公司的ME6000肌电图仪记录分析10名女子拳击运动员上臂肱二头肌（主动肌）与肱三头肌（拮抗肌）、前臂屈肌（主动肌）与伸肌（拮抗肌）和腰部肌群的运动诱发肌电,规定运动为手持2.5 kg的哑铃负荷进行直拳空击运动直至局部肌肉力竭。结果：直拳空击运动至局部肌肉力竭过程中,上肢拮抗肌的中位频率（MF）下降幅度和速度大于相对应的主动肌,且从肌群作功来看,主动肌作功百分比较拮抗肌大。其中9名普通运动员腰肌的肌电频率（MF）均值较1名指定样本世界冠军的下降缓慢,而且其作功百分比都较小。结论：通过对普通女子拳击运动员上肢和腰部肌群肌电指标测试与世界冠军的比较分析,提示本研究中所测普通拳击运动员拮抗肌和腰部肌肉力量训练不足,有待加强该部肌肉的力量训练。     

Altered activity of the serratus anterior during unilateral arm elevation in patients with cervical disorders

Altered activity in the axioscapular muscles is considered to be an important feature in patients with neck pain. The activity of the serratus anterior (SA) and trapezius muscles during arm elevation has not been investigated in these patients. The objectives of this study was to investigate whether there is a pattern of altered activity in the SA and trapezius in patients with insidious onset neck pain (IONP) (n = 22) and whiplash associated disorders (WAD) (n = 27). An asymptomatic group was selected for baseline measurements (n = 23).Surface electromyography was used to measure the onset of muscle activation and duration of muscle activity of the SA as well as the upper, middle, and lower trapezius during unilateral arm elevation in the three subject groups. Both arms were tested.With no interaction, the main effect for the onset of muscle activation and duration of muscle activity for serratus anterior was statistically significant among the groups. Post hoc comparison revealed a significantly delayed onset of muscle activation and less duration of muscle activity in the IONP group, and in the WAD group compared to the asymptomatic group. There were no group main effects or interaction effects for upper, middle and lower trapezius.This finding may have implications for scapular stability in these patients because the altered activity in the SA may reflect inconsistent or poorly coordinated muscle activation that may reduce the quality of neuromuscular performance and induce an increased load on the cervical and the thoracic spine.     

EMG-based muscle fatigue assessment during dynamic contractions using principal component analysis

A novel approach to fatigue assessment during dynamic contractions was proposed which projected multiple surface myoelectric parameters onto the vector connecting the temporal start and end points in feature-space in order to extract the long-term trend information. The proposed end to end (ETE) projection was compared to traditional principal component analysis (PCA) as well as neural-network implementations of linear (LPCA) and non-linear PCA (NLPCA). Nine healthy participants completed two repetitions of fatigue tests during isometric, cyclic and random fatiguing contractions of the biceps brachii. The fatigue assessments were evaluated in terms of a modified sensitivity to variability ratio (SVR) and each method used a set of time-domain and frequency-domain features which maximized the SVR. It was shown that there was no statistical difference among ETE, PCA and LPCA (p > 0.99) and that all three outperformed NLPCA (p < 0.0022). Future work will include a broader comparison of these methods to other new and established fatigue indices.     

基于小波特征分析的手指动作识别研究

目的:本文利用表面肌电(sEMG)信号来研究多种手指组合动作的识别问题。方法:在对采集的四个通道sEMG信号进行降噪预处理的基础上,采用移动加窗处理方法来提取关于手指运动状态的信号活动段,再分析各个信号活动段的小波系数统计特征,进而利用多类支持向量机(SVM)分类算法来实现手指组合动作的识别。结果:动作识别率最高达到100%。结论:所采用方法能够有效地识别多种手势动作,并为后续基于肌电信号的实时人机接口系统的研究奠定了理论基础。