Non-Invasive Quantitative Muscle Fatigue Estimation Based on Correlation Between sEMG Signal and Muscle Mass

This study aimed to investigate the degree of regularity of surface electromyography (sEMG) signals during muscle fatigue during dynamic contractions and muscle recovery after cupping therapy. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study assessing both muscle fatigue and muscle recovery using a nonlinear method. Twelve healthy participants were recruited to perform biceps curls at 75% of the 10 repetitions maximum under four conditions: immediately and 24 h after cupping therapy (−300 mmHg pressure), as well as after sham control (no negative pressure). Cupping therapy or sham control was assigned to each participant according to a pre-determined counter-balanced order and applied to the participant’s biceps brachii for 5 min. The degree of regularity of the sEMG signal during the first, second, and last 10 repetitions (Reps) of biceps curls was quantified using a modified sample entropy (Ems) algorithm. When exercise was performed immediately or 24 h after sham control, Ems of the sEMG signal showed a significant decrease from the first to second 10 Reps; when exercise was performed immediately after cupping therapy, Ems also showed a significant decrease from the first to second 10 Reps but its relative change was significantly smaller compared to the condition of exercise immediately after sham control. When exercise was performed 24 h after cupping therapy, Ems did not show a significant decrease, while its relative change was significantly smaller compared to the condition of exercise 24 h after sham control. These results indicated that the degree of regularity of sEMG signals quantified by Ems is capable of assessing muscle fatigue and the effect of cupping therapy. Moreover, this measure seems to be more sensitive to muscle fatigue and could yield more consistent results compared to the traditional linear measures.

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Temporal disruption of neuromuscular communication and muscle atrophy following non-invasive ACL injury in rats

Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1152/japplphysiol.00070.2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Emily R. Hunt ◽

Steven M. Davi ◽

Cassandra N. Parise ◽

Kaleigh Clark ◽

Douglas W. Van Pelt ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Muscle Mass ◽

Muscle Atrophy ◽

Acl Injury ◽

Quadriceps Muscle ◽

Proteasome Activity ◽

Vastus Lateralis Muscle ◽

20S Proteasome ◽

Post Injury ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Wet Weight

Many patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries have persistent quadriceps muscle atrophy, even after considerable time in rehabilitation. Understanding the factors that regulate muscle mass, and the time course of atrophic events, is important for identifying therapeutic interventions. Using a non-invasive animal model of ACL injury, a longitudinal study was performed to elucidate key parameters underlying quadriceps muscle atrophy. Male Long-Evans rats were euthanized at 6, 12, 24, 48-hrs and 1, 2, 4-wks after ACL injury that was induced via tibial compression overload; controls were not injured. Vastus Lateralis muscle size was determined by wet weight and fiber CSA. Evidence of disrupted neuromuscular communication was assessed via the expression of NCAM and genes associated with denervation and neuromuscular junction instability. Abundance of MuRF-1, MAFbx, and 45s pre-rRNA along with 20S proteasome activity were determined to investigate mechanisms related to muscle atrophy. Lastly, muscle damage-related parameters were assessed by measuring IgG permeability, centronucleation, CD68 mRNA and satellite cell abundance. Compared to controls, we observed a greater percentage of NCAM positive fibers at 6-hrs post-injury, followed by higher MAFbx abundance 48-hrs post-injury, and higher 20S proteasome activity at 1-wk post-injury. A loss of muscle wet weight, smaller fiber CSA and the elevated expression of Runx1 were also observed at the 1-wk post-injury time point relative to controls. There also were no differences observed in any damage markers. These results indicate that alterations in neuromuscular communication precede the upregulation of atrophic factors that regulate quadriceps muscle mass early after non-invasive ACL injury.

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Is the Use of a Low-Cost sEMG Sensor Valid to Measure Muscle Fatigue?

Sensors ◽

10.3390/s19143204 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (14) ◽

pp. 3204 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Sergio Fuentes del Toro ◽

Silvia Santos-Cuadros ◽

Ester Olmeda ◽

Carolina Álvarez-Caldas ◽

Vicente Díaz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Muscle Fatigue ◽

Low Cost ◽

Mean Square ◽

Human Computer Interactions ◽

Semg Signal ◽

Mean Frequency ◽

Absolute Value ◽

Cost System ◽

Cost Surface

Injuries caused by the overstraining of muscles could be prevented by means of a system which detects muscle fatigue. Most of the equipment used to detect this is usually expensive. The question then arises whether it is possible to use a low-cost surface electromyography (sEMG) system that is able to reliably detect muscle fatigue. With this main goal, the contribution of this work is the design of a low-cost sEMG system that allows assessing when fatigue appears in a muscle. To that aim, low-cost sEMG sensors, an Arduino board and a PC were used and afterwards their validity was checked by means of an experiment with 28 volunteers. This experiment collected information from volunteers, such as their level of physical activity, and invited them to perform an isometric contraction while an sEMG signal of their quadriceps was recorded by the low-cost equipment. After a wavelet filtering of the signal, root mean square (RMS), mean absolute value (MAV) and mean frequency (MNF) were chosen as representative features to evaluate fatigue. Results show how the behaviour of these parameters across time is shown in the literature coincides with past studies (RMS and MAV increase while MNF decreases when fatigue appears). Thus, this work proves the feasibility of a low-cost system to reliably detect muscle fatigue. This system could be implemented in several fields, such as sport, ergonomics, rehabilitation or human-computer interactions.

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Comparison of sEMG bit-stream modulators for cross-correlation based muscle fatigue estimation

2016 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS) ◽

10.1109/iscas.2016.7527371 ◽

2016 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daiwen Sun ◽

Ermis Koutsos ◽

Pantelis Georgiou

Keyword(s):

Muscle Fatigue ◽

Cross Correlation ◽

Fatigue Estimation ◽

Bit Stream

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Non-Invasive and Flexible Electrodes Based on Multimaterial Fiber for sEMG Signal Detection

2018 IEEE Life Sciences Conference (LSC) ◽

10.1109/lsc.2018.8572212 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

C. L. Fall ◽

M. Roudjane ◽

S. Ghafouri ◽

Q. Mascret ◽

M. Bielmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Signal Detection ◽

Semg Signal ◽

Flexible Electrodes ◽

Non Invasive

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Effects of exercise and whey protein on muscle mass, fat mass, myoelectrical muscle fatigue and health-related quality of life in older adults: a secondary analysis of the Liverpool Hope University—Sarcopenia Ageing Trial (LHU-SAT)

European Journal of Applied Physiology ◽

10.1007/s00421-019-04293-5 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 120 (2) ◽

pp. 493-503 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Ben Kirk ◽

Kate Mooney ◽

Rosanna Cousins ◽

Peter Angell ◽

Matthew Jackson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Older Adults ◽

Muscle Fatigue ◽

Whey Protein ◽

Muscle Mass ◽

Secondary Analysis ◽

Health Related Quality ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related

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Complexity Analysis of Surface Electromyography for Assessing the Myoelectric Manifestation of Muscle Fatigue: A Review

Entropy ◽

10.3390/e22050529 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 22 (5) ◽

pp. 529 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Susanna Rampichini ◽

Taian Martins Vieira ◽

Paolo Castiglioni ◽

Giampiero Merati

Keyword(s):

Muscle Fatigue ◽

Surface Electromyography ◽

Literature Search ◽

Complexity Analysis ◽

Rehabilitation Medicine ◽

Extensive Literature ◽

Recurrence Plots ◽

Semg Signal ◽

Extensive Literature Search ◽

The Relationship

The surface electromyography (sEMG) records the electrical activity of muscle fibers during contraction: one of its uses is to assess changes taking place within muscles in the course of a fatiguing contraction to provide insights into our understanding of muscle fatigue in training protocols and rehabilitation medicine. Until recently, these myoelectric manifestations of muscle fatigue (MMF) have been assessed essentially by linear sEMG analyses. However, sEMG shows a complex behavior, due to many concurrent factors. Therefore, in the last years, complexity-based methods have been tentatively applied to the sEMG signal to better individuate the MMF onset during sustained contractions. In this review, after describing concisely the traditional linear methods employed to assess MMF we present the complexity methods used for sEMG analysis based on an extensive literature search. We show that some of these indices, like those derived from recurrence plots, from entropy or fractal analysis, can detect MMF efficiently. However, we also show that more work remains to be done to compare the complexity indices in terms of reliability and sensibility; to optimize the choice of embedding dimension, time delay and threshold distance in reconstructing the phase space; and to elucidate the relationship between complexity estimators and the physiologic phenomena underlying the onset of MMF in exercising muscles.

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The interaction between nutrition and exercise for promoting health and performance

Proceedings of The Nutrition Society ◽

10.1017/s0029665117001100 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 77 (1) ◽

pp. 1-3 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Oliver C. Witard ◽

Derek Ball

Keyword(s):

Skeletal Muscle ◽

Muscle Mass ◽

Metabolic Response ◽

Healthy Ageing ◽

Human Model ◽

Health Issues ◽

The Public ◽

Non Invasive ◽

Age Related ◽

And Performance

The theme of The Nutrition Society Spring Conference 2017 was on the interaction between nutrition and exercise for promoting healthy ageing, maintaining cognitive function and improving the metabolic health of the population. The importance of this theme is highlighted by the public health issues surrounding obesity, diabetes and the age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia). The opening symposium provided a historical perspective of both invasive and non-invasive methodologies for measuring exercise energetics and energy balance. Data derived from these techniques underpin current understanding regarding the metabolic response to nutrition and exercise. Further symposia examined the importance of skeletal muscle for healthy ageing in older men and postmenopausal women. From a nutritional perspective, the potential for animal- v. plant-based protein sources to offset the age-related decline in muscle mass was discussed. The day concluded by discussing the link(s) between nutrition, exercise and brain function. Day 2 commenced with examples of applied equine research illustrating the link between nutrition/exercise and insulin resistance to those of a human model. The final symposium examined the combined role of nutrition and exercise in reducing risk of type 2 diabetes and dyslipidaemia. The overall conclusion from the meeting was that the interaction between diet and physical activity confers greater benefits to human health and performance than either component alone.

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