Detection of Onset and Offset Time of Muscle Activity in Surface EMG using the Kalman Smoother

A visual decision by clinical experts like physical therapists is a best way to detect onset and offset time of muscle activation. The current computer-based algorithms are being researched toward similar results of clinical experts. The new algorithm in this paper has an ability to extract a trend from noisy input data. Kalman smoother is used to recognize the trend to be revealed from disorderly signals. Histogram of smoothed signals by Kalman smoother has a clear boundary to separate muscle contractions from relaxations. To verify that the Kalman smoother algorithm is reliable way to detect onset and offset time of muscle contractions, the algorithm of Robert P. Di Fabio (published in 1987) is compared with Kalman smoother. For 31 templates of subjects, an average and a standard deviation are compared. The average of errors between Di Fabio's algorithm and experts is 109 milliseconds in onset detection and 142 milliseconds in offset detection. But the average between Kalman smoother and experts is 90 and 137 milliseconds in each case. Moreover, the standard deviations of errors are 133 (onset) and 210 (offset) milliseconds in Di Fabio's one, but 48 (onset) and 55 (offset) milliseconds in Kalman smoother. As a result, the Kalman smoother is much closer to determinations of clinical experts and more reliable than Di Fabio's one.