Table Of ContentADVANCES IN APPLIED
ELECTROMYOGRAPHY
Edited by Joseph Mizrahi
Advances in Applied Electromyography
Edited by Joseph Mizrahi
Published by InTech
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Copyright © 2011 InTech
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First published August, 2011
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Advances in Applied Electromyography, Edited by Joseph Mizrahi
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ISBN 978-953-307-382-8
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Contents
Preface IX
Part 1 Skeletal Muscles, Biomechanics and Rehabilitation 1
Chapter 1 The Role of Electromyograms in
Resolving Musculoskeletal Interactions
in Able-Bodied and Disabled Human Individuals 3
J. Mizrahi
Chapter 2 Electromyography Assessment of Muscle
Recruitment Strategies During High-Intensity Exercise 25
François Billaut
Chapter 3 Classification of Upper Limb
Motions from Around-Shoulder Muscle Activities 41
Hirokazu Soma, Yuse Horiuchi,
Jose Gonzalez and Wenwei Yu
Chapter 4 Walking and Jogging: Quantification of
Muscle Activity of the Lower Extremities 55
Begoña Gavilanes-Miranda,
Juan J. Goiriena De Gandarias and Gonzalo A. Garcia
Part 2 EMG Processing and Noise Reduction 75
Chapter 5 EMG Signal Noise Removal Using Neural Netwoks 77
Vijay R. Mankar
Chapter 6 Electromyography Pattern-Recognition-Based Control
of Powered Multifunctional Upper-Limb Prostheses 99
Guanglin Li
Part 3 Force Estimation 117
Chapter 7 Pinching Effort Evaluation
Based on Tendon Force Estimation 119
Atsutoshi Ikeda, Yuichi Kurita and Tsukasa Ogasawara
VI Contents
Chapter 8 Electromyogram of the Cibarial Pump and
the Feeding Process in Hematophagous Hemiptera 137
Ricardo N Araujo, Nelder F Gontijo, Alessandra A Guarneri,
Alberto F Gontijo, Adriana C Soares and Marcos H Pereira
Part 4 Pelvic Floor Muscle Function from Electromyograms 159
Chapter 9 Anal Sphincter Electromyogram for
Dysfunction of Lower Urinary Tract and Pelvic Floor 161
Chuangyu Qu, Dangfeng Xu,
Cunzhou Wang, Jie Chen, Lei Yin and Xingang Cui
Chapter 10 Electromyography of Pelvic Floor Muscles in Rats 189
Yolanda Cruz Gómez, Hai-Hong Jiang, Paul Zaszczurynski,
Raúl Juárez, César Pastelin and Margot S. Damaser
Preface
The electrical activity of the muscles, as measured by means of electromyography
(EMG), is a major expression of muscle contraction. Since the contracting skeletal mus-
cles are greatly responsible for loading of the bones and joints, information about the
muscle EMG is important to gain knowledge about musculo-skeletal biomechanics.
Myoelectric signals can also demonstrate the development of loading imbalance and
asymmetry, which in turn relate to physical disability. In smooth muscles, EMG may
be used to indicate function of internal organs. EMG may thus be used clinically for
the diagnosis of neuromuscular problems and for assessing biomechanical and motor
control deficits and other functional disorders. It may also be used as a control signal
for interfacing with orthotic and/or prosthetic devices or other rehabilitation assists.
Apart from muscular activity, EMG may also be used to indicate and quantify the de-
velopment of muscle fatigue.
EMG signals from whole muscles are generally stochastic in nature, thus requiring ref-
erence to methods of signal analysis in order to be characterized ad classified and to
obtain quantitative information about muscle activity both in the time and the fre-
quency domains. Exceptionally, EMG signals may exhibit a deterministic pattern
when all the muscle fibers contract simultaneously. This takes place when the muscle's
activation is being induced by means of electrical stimulation from a source external to
the central nervous system. A synchronous compound muscle action potential
(CMAP) then replaces the natural, somewhat random-like, signal produced by the
asynchronous firing of the different motor units. Rather simple methods of signal pro-
cessing are sufficient for characterizing the synchronous CMAP.
The EMG signal is usually accompanied by mechanical signals emerging from the con-
tracting and vibrating muscles. Although these signals are measurable by means of
microphones (acoustic myography, AMG) or accelerometers (mechano myography,
MMG) the EMG is still the major and dominant source serving to monitor muscle ac-
tivity. This is so because EMG signals are more reliable and reproducible compared to
the AMG and MMG signals.
This book aims at providing an updated overview of the recent developments in elec-
tromyography from diverse aspects and various applications in clinical and experi-
mental research. It consists of ten chapters arranged in four sections. The first section
X Preface
deals with EMG signals from skeletal muscles and their significance in assessing bio-
mechanical and physiologic function and in applications in neuro-musculo-skeletal
rehabilitation. The second section addresses methodologies for the treatment of the
signal itself: noise removal and pattern recognition for the activation of artificial limbs.
The third section deals with utilizing the EMG signals for inferring on the mechanical
action of muscle, such as force, e.g., pinching force in humans or sucking pressure in
the cibarial pump during feeding of the hematophagous hemiptera insect. The fourth
and last section deals with the clinical role of electromyograms in studying the pelvic
floor muscle function.
Prof. Joseph Mizrahi
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa,
Israel
