Applications of EMG in Clinical and Sports Medicine Edited by Catriona Steele APPLICATIONS OF EMG IN CLINICAL AND SPORTS MEDICINE Edited by Catriona Steele INTECHOPEN.COM Applications of EMG in Clinical and Sports Medicine http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/2349 Edited by Catriona Steele Contributors William Berg, Adam Strang, Jerneja Vrhovec, Alenka Maček Lebar, Satoru Kai, Yaodong Gu, Xiaoxiang Su, Albert Bohbot, Jefferson Loss, Debora Cantergi, Fabia Milman Krumholz, Marcelo La Torre, Cláudia Tarragà ́ Candotti, Maria Grazia Benedetti, Valentina Agostini, Marco Knaflitz, Paolo Bonato, Ichiro Nakajima, Oka Shunichi, Yoshida Masafumi, Ohba Hiroiku, Maria-Fernanda Lorenzo Gómez, Francisco Javier Garcia Criado, Barbara Padilla Fernandez, Ana Gomez Garcia, Jose Antonio Miron Canelo, Antonia Geanini Yaguez, Juan MIguel Silva Abuin, Adalgiso Coscrato Cardozo, Mauro Gonçalves, Shao-Hsia Chang, Nan-Ying Yu, Ruwan Chandra Gopura, Kazuo Kiguchi, Catriona M Steele, Claudia Regina Furquim Andrade, Fernanda Chiarion Sassi, Paula Toledo, Laura Mangilli, E. K. Kemsley, Marianne Defernez, Adrian Harrison, Margarita Martínez-Gómez, Dora Corona-Quintanilla, Yolanda Cruz, Rene Zempoalteca, Francisco Castelán, Jorge Rodríguez-Antolín, Gongbing Shan, Antonio Fratini, Mario Cesarelli, Antonio La Gatta, Maria Romano, Paolo Bifulco, Christopher Tomelleri, Andreas Waldner, Stefan Hesse, Laurent Lafosse, Dipit Sahu, Robert Fullick, Artur Bonezi, Mônica De Oliveira Melo, Yumie Okuyama Da Silva, Aline Haas © The Editor(s) and the Author(s) 2012 The moral rights of the and the author(s) have been asserted. All rights to the book as a whole are reserved by INTECH. The book as a whole (compilation) cannot be reproduced, distributed or used for commercial or non-commercial purposes without INTECH’s written permission. Enquiries concerning the use of the book should be directed to INTECH rights and permissions department (permissions@intechopen.com). Violations are liable to prosecution under the governing Copyright Law. 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The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damage or injury to persons or property arising out of the use of any materials, instructions, methods or ideas contained in the book. First published in Croatia, 2012 by INTECH d.o.o. eBook (PDF) Published by IN TECH d.o.o. Place and year of publication of eBook (PDF): Rijeka, 2019. IntechOpen is the global imprint of IN TECH d.o.o. Printed in Croatia Legal deposit, Croatia: National and University Library in Zagreb Additional hard and PDF copies can be obtained from orders@intechopen.com Applications of EMG in Clinical and Sports Medicine Edited by Catriona Steele p. cm. ISBN 978-953-307-798-7 eBook (PDF) ISBN 978-953-51-6627-6 Selection of our books indexed in the Book Citation Index in Web of Science™ Core Collection (BKCI) Interested in publishing with us? Contact book.department@intechopen.com Numbers displayed above are based on latest data collected. For more information visit www.intechopen.com 4,000+ Open access books available 151 Countries delivered to 12.2% Contributors from top 500 universities Our authors are among the Top 1% most cited scientists 116,000+ International authors and editors 120M+ Downloads We are IntechOpen, the world’s leading publisher of Open Access books Built by scientists, for scientists Meet the editor Dr. Catriona M. Steele is the Director of the Swallow- ing Rehabilitation Research Laboratory at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, and an Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. A speech-language patholo- gist by training, Dr. Steele is particularly known for her use of instrumentation to measure physiological signals in swallowing, including electromyography, electro- magnetic articulography and intraoral manometry.She has used surface electromyography as a tool for biofeedback in exercise-based approaches to therapy for people with dysphagia (swallowing disorders) since 1999. Dr. Steele is a frequent speaker at conferences and professional training courses around the world.She is known for her commitment to evidence based practice. Contents Preface XIII Part 1 Gait 1 Chapter 1 Evaluating the Electromyographical Signal During Symmetrical Load Lifting 3 Jefferson Fagundes Loss, Débora Cantergi, Fábia Milman Krumholz, Marcelo La Torre and Claudia Tarragô Candotti Chapter 2 EMG Analysis Methods on Robotic Gait Machines 19 Christopher Tomelleri, Andreas Waldner and Stefan Hesse Chapter 3 Electromyography in the Study of Muscle Reactions to Vibration Treatment 35 Antonio Fratini, Mario Cesarelli, Antonio La Gatta, Maria Romano and Paolo Bifulco Part 2 Posture, Prevention of Falls and Robotics 51 Chapter 4 The Role of Electromyography (EMG) in the Study of Anticipatory Postural Adjustments 53 William P. Berg and Adam J. Strang Chapter 5 Application of Surface Electromyographic Signals to Control Exoskeleton Robots 69 R. A. R. C. Gopura and Kazuo Kiguchi Chapter 6 Trunk Muscle Activity Affects the Level of Performance in Human Body 95 Satoru Kai Chapter 7 EMG in People with Different Heel Height Condition 109 Xiaoxiang Su and Yaodong Gu X Contents Chapter 8 Muscle Activation Patterns During Level Walking and Stair Ambulation 117 Maria Grazia Benedetti, Valentina Agostini, Marco Knaflitz and Paolo Bonato Part 3 Back Care 131 Chapter 9 Experimentation and Structural Modeling of Stimulus-Evoked Electromyography in Muscles During Electrically-Elicited Fatigue Process 133 Shao-Hsia Chang and Nan-Ying Yu Chapter 10 Assessment of Low Back Muscle by Surface EMG 151 Adalgiso Coscrato Cardozo and Mauro Gonçalves Chapter 11 EMG Analysis of a Pilates Exercise 165 Jefferson Fagundes Loss, Mônica de Oliveira Melo, Débora Cantergi, Yumie Okuyama da Silva, Artur Bonezi and Aline Nogueira Haas Chapter 12 Electromyography Monitoring for Complete and Incomplete Transections of the Spinal Cord in Humans Who Received a Cell Therapy Combined with LASERPONCTURE ® or LASERPONCTURE ® Only: Methodology, Analysis, and Results 181 Albert Bohbot Part 4 Sports Medicine 199 Chapter 13 EMG Applications in Studies of Arts 201 Gongbing Shan and Peter Visentin Chapter 14 Surface Electromyography During Both Standing and Walking in m Ulnaris lateralis of Diversely Trained Horses 209 Miss Kiara K. Salomons, Aziz Tnibar and Adrian P. Harrison Chapter 15 Arthroscopic Treatment of Suprascapular Nerve Neuropathy 225 Dipit Sahu, Robert Fullick and Laurent Lafosse Part 5 Gynecology/Urology 241 Chapter 16 An Uterine Electromyographic Activity as a Measure of Labor Progression 243 Jerneja Vrhovec and Alenka Maček Lebar Contents XI Chapter 17 The Role of Pelvic and Perineal Muscles in Reproductive and Excretory Functions 269 Margarita Martínez-Gómez, Dora Luz Corona-Quintanilla, Yolanda Cruz-Gómez, René Zempoalteca, Jorge Rodríguez-Antolín and Francisco Castelán Chapter 18 Electromyography Usefulness in Diagnosis of Functional Status of Pelvic Floor Muscles in Women with Urinary Incontinence 289 M.F. Lorenzo-Gomez, B. Padilla-Fernandez, F.J. Garcia-Criado, A. Gomez-Garcia, J.A. Mirón-Canelo, A. Geanini-Yagüez and J.M. Silva-Abuin Part 6 Orofacial Function (Includes Dysphagia) 309 Chapter 19 Electromyography as a Biofeedback Tool for Rehabilitating Swallowing Muscle Function 311 Catriona M. Steele, Janice W. Bennett, Sarah Chapman-Jay, Rebecca Cliffe Polacco, Sonja M. Molfenter and Mohamed Oshalla Chapter 20 Relating Surface Electromyograms of the Facial Muscles During Mastication to the Mechanical and Sensory Properties of Foodstuffs 329 E. Katherine Kemsley and Marianne Defernez Chapter 21 Electromyography and Facial Paralysis 359 Fernanda Chiarion Sassi, Paula Nunes Toledo, Laura Davison Mangilli and Claudia Regina Furquim de Andrade Chapter 22 Movement-Related Cortical Potentials Associated with Oral and Facial Functions in Humans 375 Nakajima Ichiro, Oka Schunichi, Ohba Hiroiku and Yoshida Masafumi Preface This is the second of two books on Electromyography (EMG). In the first book, chapters are focused on the basic principles of using and analyzing EMG signals. This second book addresses the application of EMG in several different clinical contexts, divided into sections on gait, posture and falls prevention, back care, sports medicine, gynecology/urology, and orofacial function, including swallowing. The first section includes three chapters that deal with surface electromyography and gait and lower limb function. The first chapter is by Fagundes Loss and covers EMG analysis of Pilates Exercise. This chapter unites information from three studies on muscular activation during hip flexion-extension exercise performed in the Cadillac position, including two studies already published about the use of agonist/antagonist muscle groups and trunk stabilizer muscles during the exercise. The second chapter, by Tomelleri, describes EMG analysis methods on robotic gait machines. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce, explain, and compare the methods of different EMG analyses carried out on different robotic gait machines. An understanding of the biomechanical interaction between robotic gait machines and patients during locomotor training on the device is relevant to ensure correct interaction forces applied to the patients' joints and the correct activation of their muscles. The section ends with a chapter by Fratini, who discusses the use and efficacy of surface electromyography to measure muscle response to vibration treatments. A review of the characteristics and analysis of vibration in sEMG recordings is provided, with examples for the rectus femoris (RF) and vastus medialis (VM) muscles. The authors discuss precautions to be taken in measurements where vibration is present and describe how the two technologies can be used together with recommendations for appropriate procedures to limit artifact. They discuss both locally-applied whole body extended vibration, with consideration of different methods (alternating rotation and vertical oscillation), and resulting parameters of importance (magnitude of vibration and acceleration). The second section includes five chapters dealing with posture and the prevention of falls, and the extension of the use of EMG with robotics. The section starts with a chapter by Berg on the role of electromyography (EMG) in the study of anticipatory postural adjustments (APAs). These APAs are feed-forward mechanisms initiated by the central nervous system (CNS) in response to expected postural disturbances, and they produce pre-emptive muscle responses to help maintain stability. The second XIV Preface chapter is by Gopura, and it covers the application of surface electromyographic signals to control an upper-limb exoskeleton robot. There is a brief review of signal processing with a useful table to define activated muscles for upper-limb motions. The methods used to apply surface EMG signals for robotic control are also explained. This is followed by a contribution from Kai on trunk muscle activity and its impact on performance level in the context of falls prevention. This chapter examines how excellent body performance levels can be attained by activating trunk muscle activity in seniors at risk for falls. The next chapter by Su and Gu deals with SEMG in people with different heel height conditions. The objective of this chapter was to provide information about surface electromyography (SEMG) activity patterns in lower limb muscles during human locomotion. SEMG signals from the tibialis anterior , medial and lateral gastrocnemius , soleus and biceps femoris muscles were acquired from ten professional female dancers who wore shoes with different heel heights, thereby illustrating the physiological impact of shoes on leg function. Finally, the chapter by Benedetti deals with muscle activation patterns during level walking and stair ambulation. The evaluation of the “on-off” pattern of one or more muscles, particularly when examined together with kinematics (joint angles) and kinetics (joint moments and powers), provides an insight into the performance of muscles and their role in accomplishing a motor task. The third section includes four chapters that deal with surface electromyography and back care. It starts with a chapter by Chang, discussing the use of EMG for electrophysiological monitoring of fatigue in paralyzed muscles during functional electrical stimulation (FES) treatments in patients with spinal cord injury. Cardozo and colleagues then discuss the assessment of low back muscle function using surface EMG. A global understanding of the parameters that can be used to assess the lower back muscle is presented, with examples showing that EMG can be a reliable tool for evaluating muscle fatigue. The authors review low back muscle fatigue during isometric contractions and look at EMG spectral analysis over time and frequency banding. The possibility of deriving indices to verify muscle fatigue states, such as the electromyographic fatigue threshold (EMGFT), is also explored. The Sorensen test for assessing low back pain and the incorporation of EMG measures during manual load lifting are discussed, with reference to current literature. The third chapter, by Fagundes Loss, explores EMG signals for the posterior-medial trunk musculature in the context of symmetrical load lifting without mechanical restriction. In the final chapter in this section, Bohbot and colleagues discuss methods for analyzing and interpreting electromyography signals in patients with complete and incomplete transections of the spinal cord. The fourth section of this volume discusses EMG applications in the context of sports and performance medicine. Shan and Visentin open this section by exploring the application of EMG to the performing arts in musicians and dancers. Salamons and colleagues then discuss the use of surface electromyography of m. ulnaris lateralis during both standing and walking to understand performance in horses who have undergone different training regimes. Sahu and colleagues then describe the use of Preface XV EMG to evaluate shoulder pain and suprascapular nerve neuropathy (SNN). Electromyography of damaged nerves may display a variety of abnormalities, including reduced motor potential amplitudes, increased spontaneous activity, fibrillations, and polyphasic activity, indicating possible denervation of the supraspinatous or infraspinatous muscles. EMG is also useful in confirming traumatic lesions of SSN. Techniques for arthroscopic suprascapular nerve release are described and compared to open surgical techniques with detailed illustrations of the relative success of the arthroscopic intervention. The fifth section on gynecology/urology starts with a chapter by Vrhovec, who describes uterine EMG activity and its use as a measure of labor progression. The chapter describes the delicate balance to be obtained between the maintenance of tone and the resistance to propagated uterine contractions until the end of gestation and the onset of labor. At the onset of labor, the uterus becomes active and at the labor’s end it empties its contents through rhythmic, forceful, organized and synchronous contractions that are crucial for the successful outcome of pregnancy. The second chapter by Martinez-Gomez provides an interesting chapter on pelvic and perineal striated muscles in female mammals, using a rabbit model. The chapter reviews methods for measuring pelvic and perineal muscle EMGs in laboratory rabbits, and describes alterations in this activity associated with dysfunction, particularly urinary incontinence. The third chapter in the section by Lorenzo-Gomes describes EMG in the diagnosis pelvic floor muscle function in women with urinary incontinence. The final section of this book includes four chapters that deal with surface electromyography in the evaluation of orofacial function and swallowing. In the opening chapter of this section, Steele and colleagues describe electromyography as a biofeedback tool for rehabilitating swallowing muscle function in patients with neurologic swallowing impairment (dysphagia). Several case studies are reviewed, and single-subject methods for monitoring change are illustrated. The second chapter by Kemsley discusses the use of SEMG to monitor facial muscle activity during chewing, and the use of EMG analysis to determine how mastication changes according to the mechanical and sensory properties of food. In this chapter, the authors discuss the hardware and software needed to conduct SEMG of the facial muscles during mastication, and describe the signal that is acquired, as well as options for further data processing of this signal to extract parameters for statistical analysis. The chapter highlights some of the complexities that may be encountered downstream during signal analysis, in particular, teasing out issues of inter-participant and inter- session variability. Sassi and colleagues then describe EMG for the measurement of facial paralysis. EMG data of the anguli oris elevator muscles are correlated to the Facial Disability Index in a group of patients with long standing facial paralysis. The fourth and final chapter by Ichiro discusses movement-related cortical potentials in the jaw musculature associated with orofacial functions, such as chewing. The authors provide a useful overview of non-invasive human brain imaging methods, including event-related potentials (ERPs), and other measurement techniques for brain activity, including positron emission tomography (PET), functional magnetic resonance XVI Preface imaging (fMRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG). They explain how movement- related cortical potentials (MRCPs) and contingent negative variations (CNVs) are classified into ERPs. The authors have investigated MRCPs and CNVs in relation to oral and facial functions in humans to clarify motor preparation processes of the brain and to clarify the neural pathways underlying mastication and swallowing. Dr. Catriona Steele Senior Scientist, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Associate Professor, Speech-Language Pathology, University of Toronto, Canada Part 1 Gait 1 Evaluating the Electromyographical Signal During Symmetrical Load Lifting Jefferson Fagundes Loss 1 , Débora Cantergi 1 , Fábia Milman Krumholz 2 , Marcelo La Torre 1,2 and Claudia Tarragô Candotti 1 1 Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul 2 Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos Brazil 1. Introduction Muscular problems account for almost half the cases of work absence, with the back being the region most involved (Kumar, 2011). Bending the trunk forward while performing domestic work or sports related activities is the cause of most back injuries (Fathallah et al., 1998). Small degrees of flexion of the trunk can be considered a medium to high risk factor of injury, mainly when the angle of the forward inclination is greater than 15 degrees and is combined with lifting activities. As the task of lifting objects from the ground exposes spinal structures to muscular-skeletal overload it has been consistently investigated (Simon, 1997). In addition, epidemiological research associates lifting to the risk of developing lumbar back pain (Ferguson & Marras, 1997; Dolan & Adams, 1998; Jäger & Luttmann, 1999; Nachemson, 1999; Wilke et al., 1999; Burdorf, 2000; Kingma et al., 2001; Wilke et al., 2001; Ferguson et al., 2004). In the early 20th century, the scientific community was already studying back injuries, in particular low back pain (Ghormley, 1933), and its relation with the loads that affect the spine. Due to the invasive nature of measuring these internal loads, models employing indirect means of estimating the loads that act on the lumbar region of the spine during lifting activities began to appear in the 1940s (Wilke et al., 2001). The models found in the literature continue to be primarily concerned with the forces between the muscles, joints and ligaments in only one cross section of the lumbar region (Strait et al., 1947; Cheng, 1998; Gagnon, 2001). While considering the spine as a single rigid structure, these simplified models attempt to provide estimates of what occurs in the spine in situations such as lifting a weight. However, these models are far from representative of the functional anatomical reality of the spine, which consists of several articulated segments and a complex muscle anatomy. The growing interest in producing a more realistic model of the trunk and, consequently, the spine, may have inspired some anthropometric studies (De Leva, 1996; Erdmann, 1997; Zatsiorsky, 2002) to divide the trunk into two or more connected segments. Some models that split the spine into more than one segment are conceived using biomechanical techniques, such as the link segment model (LSM), surface electromyography (EMG) and inverse dynamics (Larivière, 1999; Marras, 1997; La Torre, 2005). The EMG of the trunk muscles has been used as input for biomechanical models that attempt to indirectly estimate the forces acting on the spine (Granata, 1995; Arjmand, 2006). Applications of EMG in Clinical and Sports Medicine 4 A review of the literature reveals that, while the segments of the spine are considered in terms of anatomical division, the overwhelming majority of EMG-based research into lifting is concentrated on the analysis of the lumbar region alone (Alexiev, 1994; Mannion et al., 1997a; Gonçalves & Barbosa, 2005), while a few have studied the thoracic region (Basler et al., 1997; Lu et al., 2002) and only one study was found that involved positioning electrodes on the cervical region of the spine (Basler et al., 1997). Another problem is that most of these analyses involved various limitations such as the use of devices intended to impose a mechanical restriction on the subjects’ movements, activities with limited amplitude or involved no extra load. Specifically in relation to the lifting of symmetrical loads, some studies use electrodes on only one side of the trunk (Toussaint et al., 1995; Dolan & Adams, 1998). However, though there are those that have collected bilateral signals for different purposes (Nielsen et al., 1998; Granata et al., 1999; Jorgensen & Marras, 2000; Mirka et al., 2000), and some authors have presented results for right and left muscles (Sheikhzadeh et al., 2008), few studies have actually investigated the electromyographical similarity between the right and left sides. Considering the above-mentioned issues, the aim of the present study was to investigate the electrical activation of the posterior-medial muscles of the trunk when lifting a load from the floor using a symmetrical movement without mechanical restriction and with electrodes positioned at various levels on both sides of the spine. 2. The steps and procedures of the electromyographical evaluation The study included 16 healthy male individuals. The subjects were right-handers, aged between 20 and 34 years, with mean height of 170.8 ± 10.4 cm and mean weight of 67.0 ± 12.5 kg and no history of spine pathology. The lifting task started and finished with the individual in a static position without a load and consisted of lifting and lowering an object using both hands, while keeping the knees straight and executing the movement by flexing from the hip. For the purposes of analysis, the gesture was divided into four distinct phases: (1) bending forward without a load (2) lifting the load (3) bending forward with a load (4) returning to the initial position. In the present study, only the data from the load lifting phase were analyzed, because it is the phase which imposes the highest demand on the paraspinal muscles. Together, Figures 1 and 2 illustrate the complete gesture. Fig. 1. Phases 1 and 2. The gesture begins with the subject in the standing position (A), the individual bends forward without a load (A to C), lifts the load and returns to an upright position with the load (C to E).