• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.219-233
• /
• 2004

The purpose of this study was to compare the EMG activities of four-forearm muscles during Kumdo head striking. The four skilled and unskilled Kumdo club members were selected from D university in B city. Investigated muscles were left brachioradialis, right brachioradialis and left flexor carpi radialis, right flexor carpi radialis. Raw EMG data were collected during the head striking motions and the average EMG were calculated by the frame width of 0.05s, and then the average %MVC were calculated. The average %MVC values of each muscle in each group were compared. The results are as follows. 1) In each group, there were no significant statistical differences between every muscle over the all phases. 2) There were significant differences, however, between skilled group and unskilled group. The former got higher average %MVC at left flexor carpi radialis and the latter at right brachioradialis in the ready phase and in the impact phase.

• Journal of muscle and joint health
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.189-196
• /
• 2013

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate electromyographic (EMG) activity of deep and superficial trunk muscles during trunk stabilization exercises with and without stabilization maneuvers. Methods: The relative muscle activity ratios and local muscle activities of 25 healthy males were measured using the 8 channel surface EMG system (Myosystem 1400A, Noraxon Inc., U.S.A). The surface EMG activities were tested during performing abdominal hollowing maneuver (AHM), abdominal bracing maneuver (ABM) and no stabilization maneuver (NSM) in random order. Data were analyzed using $1{\times}3$ repeated measures ANOVA. Results: During bridging exercises, the EMG activity ratio of transverse abdominis/internal oblique abdominis relative to rectus abdominis was significantly lower in NSM than in AHM and ABM. During bridging and kneeling exercises, the EMG activity ratio of multifidus relative to erector spinae was significantly higher in AHM than in NSM. Conclusion: The AHM can be clinically used by the physical therapist to activate selectively the trunk muscles when designing selective training programs for patients.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.26 no.8
• /
• pp.132-141
• /
• 2009

In this paper, we describe finger force estimation from surface electromyogram (sEMG) data for intuitive and delicate force control of robotic devices such as exoskeletons and robotic prostheses. Four myoelectric sites on the skin were found to offer favorable sEMG recording conditions. An artificial neural network (ANN) was implemented to map the sEMG to the force, and its structure was optimized to avoid both under- and over-fitting problems. The resulting network was tested using recorded sEMG signals from the selected myoelectric sites of three subjects in real-time. In addition, we discussed performance of force estimation results related to the length of the muscles. This work may prove useful in relaying natural and delicate commands to artificial devices that may be attached to the human body or deployed remotely.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.135-143
• /
• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate onset timing of vastus medialis oblique(VMO) relative to vastus lateralis(VL) the VMO/VL electromyographic(EMG) ratio according to heel height Methods: A repeated measures design was used. Fifteen healthy female college students with no known knee musculoskeletal dysfunction were recruited this study. They carried out a standardised stair acent activity under 4 conditions; barefoot, and with heel height of 1, 3, 7 cm. Muscle activity was measured by surface EMG (Myosystem 1400A, Noraxon Inc., U.S.A). Data were analysed using $1{\times}4$ repeated measures ANOVA. Results: Onset timing differed with heel height(p<.05). However, the VMO/VL EMG ratio was not significantly difference between conditions. Conclusion: We found that 7 cm heel height delayed in VMO onset compared with 3 cm heel height during stair ascent, but no change in the relative EMG intensity of VMO and VL as measured by th VMO/VL ratio. The findings indicate that high-heeled shoes may have disadvantages in knee stability because of delayed onset of VMO. Due to a lack of knee joint stability, wearing of high heeled shoes should be avoided.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
• /
• v.54 no.5
• /
• pp.338-347
• /
• 2005

A computer-based low back muscle evaluation system was designed to simultaneously acquire, process, display, quantify, and correlate electromyographic(EMG) activity with muscle force, and range of motion(ROM) in the lumbar muscle of human. This integrated multi-channel system was designed around notebook PC. Each channel consisted of a time and frequency domain block, and T-F(time-frequency) domain block. The captured data in each channel was used to display and Quantify : raw EMG, histogram, zero crossing, turn, RMS(root mean square), variance, mean, power spectrum, median frequency, mean frequency, wavelet transform, Wigner-Ville distribution, Choi-Williams distribution, and Cohen-Posch distribution. To evaluate the performance of the designed system, the static and dynamic contraction experiments from lumbar(waist) level of human were done. The experiment performed in five subjects, and various parameters were tested and compared. This system could equally well be modified to allow acquisition, processing, and analysis of EMG signals in other studies and applications.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.451-458
• /
• 2012

The voluntary EMG (vEMG) signal from electrically stimulated muscle is very useful for feedback control in functional electrical stimulation. However, the recorded EMG signal from surface electrodes has unwanted stimulation artifact and M-wave as well as vEMG. Here, we propose an event-synchronous adaptive digital filter for the suppression of stimulation artifact and M-wave in this application. The proposed method requires a simple experimental setup that does not require extra hardware connections to obtain the reference signals of adaptive digital filter. For evaluating the efficiency of this proposed method, the filter was tested and compared with a least square (LS) algorithm using previously measured data. We conclude that the cancellation of both primary and residual stimulation artifacts is enhanced with an event-synchronous adaptive digital filter and shows promise for clinical application to rehabilitate paretic limbs. Moreover because this algorithm is far simpler than the LS algorithm, it is portable and ready for real-time application.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.78-86
• /
• 1997

Back muscles play an important role in protecting the spine. Epidemiological studies have shown that loads imposed on the human spine during daily living play a significant role in the onset of low back pain. No previous study has attempted to correlate the response of the trunk musculature with the type of external load. The purpose of this study was to use surface electromyography (EMG) to quantify the relative demands placed on the back muscles while lifting loads in one hand. Forty asymptomatic, twenty year-old subjects stood while lifting loads of 10% of body weight(BW) unilaterally. All EMG data were normalized to a percentage of the EMG voltage produced during no-load standing(%EMG). Our major analysis involved a paired t-test for repeated measures. Of particular note was the fact that the ipsilateral 10% of BW condition produced statistically less % EMG change than did the contralateral 10% of the condition.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers D
• /
• v.53 no.5
• /
• pp.380-388
• /
• 2004

This study proposed an improved spike detection algorithm which automatically detects suitable spike threshold on the amplitude of surface electromyography(SEMG) signal during isometric contraction. The EMG data from the low back muscles was obtained in six channels and the proposed signal processing algorithm is compared with the median frequency and Gabriel's spike parameter. As a result, the reliability of spike parameter was inferior to the median frequency. This fact indicates that a spike parameter is inadequate for analysis of multi-channel EMG signal. Because of uncertainty of fixed spike threshold, the improved spike detection algorithm was proposed. It automatically detects suitable spike threshold depending on the amplitude of the EMG signal, and the proposed algorithm was able to detect optimal threshold based on mCFAR(modified Constant False Alarm Rate) in the every EMG channel. In conclusion, from the reliability points of view, neither median frequency nor existing spike detection algorithm was superior to the proposed method.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.581-591
• /
• 1995

The main objective of this study is to compare three representative methods predicting compressive forces on lumbosacral disc : LP-based method, double LP-based method and EMG-assisted method. Two subjects simulated lifting tasks performed in the refractories industry, in which vertical and horizontal distance, and weight of load were varied. To calculate the L5/S1 compressive forces, EMG signals from six trunk muscles were measured and postural data and locations of load were recorded using the Motion Analysis System. The EMG-assisted model was shown to reflect well all three factors considered here. On the other hand, the compressive forces of the LP-based model and the double LP-based model were only significantly affected by weight of load. In addition, lowly positive correlation was observed between compressive forces of the EMG-assisted model and lifting index(LI) of 1991 NIOSH lifting equation. From this results, it can be concluded that compressive forces on L5/S1 by the EMG-assisted method should be used as biomechanical criterion in order to evaluate risk of jobs precisely, and LI can not evaluate risk of lifting tasks fully.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
• /
• 2000.04a
• /
• pp.268-273
• /
• 2000

Velocity-dependent increase in tonic stretch reflexes is one of the prominent characteristics of spasticity. It is very important to evaluate spasticity objectively and quantitatively before and after treatment for physicians. An accurate quantitative biomechanical evaluation for the spasticity which is caused by the disorder of central nervous system is made in this study. A sudden leg dropper which is designed to generate objective testing environment at every trial gives very effective environment for the test. Kinematic data are archived by the 3-dimensional motion analysis system($Elite^{(R)}$, B.T.S., Italy). Kinematic data are angle and angular velocity of lower limb joints, and length and lengthening velocity of lower limb muscle. A program is also developed to analyze the kinematic data of lower limb, contraction and relaxation length of muscles, and dynamic EMG data at the same tim. To evaluate spasticity quantitatively, total 31 parameters extracted from goniogram, EMG and muscle model are analyzed. Statistical analysis are made for bilateral correlations for all parameters. The described instrumentation and parameters to make quantitative and objective evaluation of spasticity shows good results.