Kinesiological Electromyography (EMG) Electromyography ...

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EMG Questions EMG can help answer: (4) Has a muscle fatigued during an activity? Basic Concepts Motor Unit One α-motorneuron and all muscle fibers that it innervates The motor unit is the functional unit of the neuromuscular system Basic Concepts Neuromuscular Junction Synaptic junction between one axon of an α-motoneuron and the corresponding muscle fiber Acetycholine released from axon terminal into synaptic cleft, binds with receptor sites on motor end plate of muscle May lead to generation of an action potential that propagates outward from motor end plate along muscle membrane Basic Concepts Muscle Fiber Action Potential (MFAP) A single moving dipole associated with changes in membrane potential, due to propagation of action potential along muscle membrane The moving dipole is the basis for EMG, and triggers the muscle contraction process Basic Concepts Motor Unit Action Potential (MUAP) The algebraic sum of all MFAP in a motor unit Each muscle fiber has a unique MFAP: affected by size & location of fiber, and surrounding tissue Each muscle fiber makes a contribution to MUAP Basic Concepts Motor Unit Action Potential (MUAP) Muscles can have 100’s of motor units with thousands of fibers each, resulting in a very complex signal e.g., Henneman reported cat gastrocnemius has > 1000 fibers/MU and > 300 MU/muscle The two following summations exist in the recorded EMG signal EMG = ΣMUAP’s and MUAP = ΣMFAP’s 2
Basic Concepts Two primary strategies used by CNS to increase muscle force: Recruitment - activation of previously silent motor units Firing Rate - previously active motor units are stimulated at a higher rate Both processes will result in more force, and larger EMG amplitude, but not necessarily in a linear manner Electrodes Electrode types (typically Ag or Ag/AgCl, to facilitate current flow) • Surface - placed on the skin with adhesive over muscle – larger pick-up zone, may be more representative of whole muscle activation – more susceptible to crosstalk – can only be used with superficial muscles Electrodes Electrode types (typically Ag/AgCl, to facilitate current flow) • Indwelling - Needle or fine-wire inserted into muscle – smaller pick-up zone than surface electrodes – more selective, can be used for motor unit studies – can be used to reach deep muscles Electrodes Amplitude & Frequency Characteristics of EMG Signals Indwelling Surface Amplitude (mV)* 0.05 - 5 0.01 - 5 Total Freq Range (Hz) 0.1 - 10000 1 - 3000 Primary Freq Range (Hz) 40 - 400 20 - 200 Min Sampling Rate (Hz) 800 400 Common Samp Rate (Hz) 2000 1000 *Low EMG signal amplitude requires amplification before recording Electrodes Frequency characteristics of EMG signals recorded with different electrodes Recording the EMG Objective when recording an EMG signal Obtain a signal that is: – An undistorted representation of ΣMUAP’s – Free of noise and artifact – Stable and reliable – Has a minimum of cross-talk from other muscles – Has a high signal-to-noise ratio Other signals may be present that overlap with EMG spectrum: ECG (1-100 Hz), power line hum (60 Hz), movement artifact (0-10 Hz) 3
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Page 5 and 6: Recording the EMG Amplifier Gain
Page 7: EMG - Temporal Analysis EMG Onset T

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