Static and dynamic sonography of facial muscles in healthy subjects – Impact of the process of manual muscle segmentation on inter-observer-reliability

Author(s):  
T Schüler ◽  
A Heinzl ◽  
GF Volk ◽  
O Guntinas-Lichius
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Cui ◽  
Weizheng Zhong ◽  
Zhuoxin Yang ◽  
Xuemei Cao ◽  
Shuangyan Dai ◽  
...  

Facial muscle activities are essential for the appearance and communication of human beings. Therefore, exploring the activation patterns of facial muscles can help understand facial neuromuscular disorders such as Bell’s palsy. Given the irregular shape of the facial muscles as well as their different locations, it should be difficult to detect the activities of whole facial muscles with a few electrodes. In this study, a high-density surface electromyogram (HD sEMG) system with 90 electrodes was used to record EMG signals of facial muscles in both healthy and Bell’s palsy subjects when they did different facial movements. The electrodes were arranged in rectangular arrays covering the forehead and cheek regions of the face. The muscle activation patterns were shown on maps, which were constructed from the Root Mean Square (RMS) values of all the 90-channel EMG recordings. The experimental results showed that the activation patterns of facial muscles were distinct during doing different facial movements and the activated muscle regions could be clearly observed. Moreover, two features of the activation patterns, 2D correlation coefficient (corr2) and Centre of Gravity (CG) were extracted to quantify the spatial symmetry and the location of activated muscle regions respectively. Furthermore, the deviation of activated muscle regions on the paralyzed side of a face compared to the healthy side was quantified by calculating the distance between two sides of CGs. The results revealed that corr2 of the activated facial muscle region (classified into forehead region and cheek region) in Bell’s palsy subjects was significantly (p < 0.05) lower than that in healthy subjects, while CG distance of activated facial region in Bell’s palsy subjects was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that in healthy subjects. The correlation between corr2 of these regions and Bell’s palsy [assessed by the Facial Nerve Grading Scale (FNGS) 2.0] was also significant (p < 0.05) in Bell’s palsy subjects. The spatial information on activated muscle regions may be useful in the diagnosis and treatment of Bell’s palsy in the future.


Author(s):  
R. Chen

ABSTRACT:Cutaneous reflexes in the upper limb were elicited by stimulating digital nerves and recorded by averaging rectified EMG from proximal and distal upper limb muscles during voluntary contraction. Distal muscles often showed a triphasic response: an inhibition with onset about 50 ms (Il) followed by a facilitation with onset about 60 ms (E2) followed by another inhibition with onset about 80 ms (12). Proximal muscles generally showed biphasic responses beginning with facilitation or inhibition with onset at about 40 ms. Normal ranges for the amplitude of these components were established from recordings on 22 arms of 11 healthy subjects. An attempt was made to determine the alterent fibers responsible for the various components by varying the stimulus intensity, by causing ischemic block of larger fibers and by estimating the afferent conduction velocities. The central pathways mediating these reflexes were examined by estimating central delays and by studying patients with focal lesions


2019 ◽  
Vol 89 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 5-12
Author(s):  
Alon Harris ◽  
Brent Siesky ◽  
Amelia Huang ◽  
Thai Do ◽  
Sunu Mathew ◽  
...  

Abstract. Introduction: To investigate the effects of a lutein complex supplementation on ocular blood flow in healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: Sixteen healthy female patients (mean age 36.8 ± 12.1 years) were enrolled in this randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blinded, two-period crossover study. Subjects received daily an oral dose of the lutein with synergistic phytochemicals complex (lutein (10 mg), ascorbic acid (500 mg), tocopherols (364 mg), carnosic acid (2.5 mg), zeaxanthin (2 mg), copper (2 mg), with synergistic effects in reducing pro-inflammatory mediators and cytokines when administered together in combination) and placebo during administration periods. Measurements were taken before and after three-week supplementation periods, with crossover visits separated by a three-week washout period. Data analysis included blood pressure, heart rate, intraocular pressure, visual acuity, contrast sensitivity detection, ocular perfusion pressure, confocal scanning laser Doppler imaging of retinal capillary blood flow, and Doppler imaging of the retrobulbar blood vessels. Results: Lutein complex supplementation produced a statistically significant increase in mean superior retinal capillary blood flow, measured in arbitrary units (60, p = 0.0466) and a decrease in the percentage of avascular area in the superior (−0.029, p = 0.0491) and inferior (−0.023, p = 0.0477) retina, as well as reduced systolic (−4.06, p = 0.0295) and diastolic (−3.69, p = 0.0441) blood pressure measured in mmHg from baseline. Data comparison between the two supplement groups revealed a significant decrease in systemic diastolic blood pressure (change from pre- to post-treatment with lutein supplement (mean (SE)): −3.69 (1.68); change from pre- to post-treatment with placebo: 0.31 (2.57); p = 0.0357) and a significant increase in the peak systolic velocity (measured in cm/sec) in the central retinal artery (change from pre- to post-treatment with lutein supplement: 0.36 (0.19); change from pre- to post-treatment with placebo: −0.33 (0.21); p = 0.0384) with lutein complex supplement; data analyses from the placebo group were all non-significant. Discussion: In healthy participants, oral administration of a lutein phytochemicals complex for three weeks produced increased ocular blood flow biomarkers within retinal vascular beds and reduced diastolic blood pressure compared to placebo.


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