Subject-Specific Muscle Activation Patterns in Athletic and Orthopedic Populations: Considerations for Using Surface Electromyography in Assistive and Biofeedback Device Applications

Author(s):  
Antonia M. Zaferiou
2010 ◽  
Vol 103 (6) ◽  
pp. 3084-3098 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gelsy Torres-Oviedo ◽  
Lena H. Ting

The musculoskeletal redundancy of the body provides multiple solutions for performing motor tasks. We have proposed that the nervous system solves this unconstrained problem through the recruitment of motor modules or functional muscle synergies that map motor intention to action. Consistent with this hypothesis, we showed that trial-by-trial variations in muscle activation for multidirectional balance control in humans were constrained by a small set of muscle synergies. However, apparent muscle synergy structures could arise from characteristic patterns of sensory input resulting from perturbations or from low-dimensional optimal motor solutions. Here we studied electromyographic (EMG) responses for balance control across a range of biomechanical contexts, which alter not only the sensory inflow generated by postural perturbations, but also the muscle activation patterns used to restore balance. Support-surface translations in 12 directions were delivered to subjects standing in six different postural configurations: one-leg, narrow, wide, very wide, crouched, and normal stance. Muscle synergies were extracted from each condition using nonnegative matrix factorization. In addition, muscle synergies from the normal stance condition were used to reconstruct muscle activation patterns across all stance conditions. A consistent set of muscle synergies were recruited by each subject across conditions. When balance demands were extremely different from the normal stance (e.g., one-legged or crouched stance), task-specific muscle synergies were recruited in addition to the preexisting ones, rather generating de novo muscle synergies. Taken together, our results suggest that muscle synergies represent consistent motor modules that map intention to action, regardless of the biomechanical context of the task.


Author(s):  
Sean F. Scanlan ◽  
Darryl D. D’Lima ◽  
Clifford W. Colwell ◽  
Thomas P. Andriacchi

Understanding the dynamic loading at the knee can provide critical information for characterizing normal as well as pathologic conditions. However, measuring or predicting this loading from extrinsic measurement remains an unmet challenge. Part of the complexity of generalizing the tibiofemoral loading is that contact force patterns are largely subject specific and vary within subjects based on the activity performed and the specific muscle activation patterns exhibited [1]. While several studies have quantified the intra-subject variability in extrinsic knee kinematics and kinetics during repetitive activities of daily living [2,3], changes in patterns of muscle contraction can yield substantial step-to-step variability in tibiofemoral contact force with minimal changes in extrinsic kinetics due to the potential influence of muscle co-contraction. Knowledge of this step-to-step tibiofemoral loading variability could play an integral role in improving the interpretation of analytical contact force predictions.


Author(s):  
Roland van den Tillaar ◽  
Eirik Lindset Kristiansen ◽  
Stian Larsen

This study compared the kinetics, barbell, and joint kinematics and muscle activation patterns between a one-repetition maximum (1-RM) Smith machine squat and isometric squats performed at 10 different heights from the lowest barbell height. The aim was to investigate if force output is lowest in the sticking region, indicating that this is a poor biomechanical region. Twelve resistance trained males (age: 22 ± 5 years, mass: 83.5 ± 39 kg, height: 1.81 ± 0.20 m) were tested. A repeated two-way analysis of variance showed that Force output decreased in the sticking region for the 1-RM trial, while for the isometric trials, force output was lowest between 0–15 cm from the lowest barbell height, data that support the sticking region is a poor biomechanical region. Almost all muscles showed higher activity at 1-RM compared with isometric attempts (p < 0.05). The quadriceps activity decreased, and the gluteus maximus and shank muscle activity increased with increasing height (p ≤ 0.024). Moreover, the vastus muscles decreased only for the 1-RM trial while remaining stable at the same positions in the isometric trials (p = 0.04), indicating that potentiation occurs. Our findings suggest that a co-contraction between the hip and knee extensors, together with potentiation from the vastus muscles during ascent, creates a poor biomechanical region for force output, and thereby the sticking region among recreationally resistance trained males during 1-RM Smith machine squats.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Young Ko ◽  
Hayoung Kim ◽  
Joonyoung Jang ◽  
Jun Chang Lee ◽  
Ju Seok Ryu

AbstractAge-related weakness due to atrophy and fatty infiltration in oropharyngeal muscles may be related to dysphagia in older adults. However, little is known about changes in the oropharyngeal muscle activation pattern in older adults. This was a prospective and experimental study. Forty healthy participants (20 older [> 60 years] and 20 young [< 60 years] adults) were enrolled. Six channel surface electrodes were placed over the bilateral suprahyoid (SH), bilateral retrohyoid (RH), thyrohyoid (TH), and sternothyroid (StH) muscles. Electromyography signals were then recorded twice for each patient during swallowing of 2 cc of water, 5 cc of water, and 5 cc of a highly viscous fluid. Latency, duration, and peak amplitude were measured. The activation patterns were the same, in the order of SH, TH, and StH, in both groups. The muscle activation patterns were classified as type I and II; the type I pattern was characterized by a monophasic shape, and the type II comprised a pre-reflex phase and a main phase. The oropharyngeal muscles and SH muscles were found to develop a pre-reflex phase specifically with increasing volume and viscosity of the swallowed fluid. Type I showed a different response to the highly viscous fluid in the older group compared to that in the younger group. However, type II showed concordant changes in the groups. Therefore, healthy older people were found to compensate for swallowing with a pre-reflex phase of muscle activation in response to increased liquid volume and viscosity, to adjust for age-related muscle weakness.


The Knee ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 500-509
Author(s):  
J.C. Schrijvers ◽  
D. Rutherford ◽  
R. Richards ◽  
J.C. van den Noort ◽  
M. van der Esch ◽  
...  

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