Comparing Surface and Fine-Wire Electromyography Activity of Lower Leg Muscles at Different Walking Speeds
Ankle plantar flexor muscles are active in the stance phase of walking to propel the body forward. Increasing walking speed requires increased plantar flexor excitation, frequently assessed using surface electromyography (EMG). Despite its popularity, validity of surface EMG applied on shank muscles...
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-10-01
|
Series: | Frontiers in Physiology |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2019.01283/full |
id |
doaj-5c19291142734cac8d6e317f3b43916f |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-5c19291142734cac8d6e317f3b43916f2020-11-25T02:00:09ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physiology1664-042X2019-10-011010.3389/fphys.2019.01283459537Comparing Surface and Fine-Wire Electromyography Activity of Lower Leg Muscles at Different Walking SpeedsAnnamária Péter0Eva Andersson1Eva Andersson2András Hegyi3Taija Finni4Olga Tarassova5Neil Cronin6Helen Grundström7Anton Arndt8Anton Arndt9Neuromuscular Research Center, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, FinlandThe Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, SwedenNeuromuscular Research Center, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, FinlandNeuromuscular Research Center, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, FinlandThe Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), Stockholm, SwedenNeuromuscular Research Center, Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, FinlandDepartment of Radiology, Capio S:t Göran’s Hospital, Stockholm, SwedenThe Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH), Stockholm, SwedenDepartment of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, SwedenAnkle plantar flexor muscles are active in the stance phase of walking to propel the body forward. Increasing walking speed requires increased plantar flexor excitation, frequently assessed using surface electromyography (EMG). Despite its popularity, validity of surface EMG applied on shank muscles is mostly unclear. Thus, we examined the agreement between surface and intramuscular EMG at a range of walking speeds. Ten participants walked overground at slow, preferred, fast, and maximum walking speeds (1.01 ± 0.13, 1.43 ± 0.19, 1.84 ± 0.23, and 2.20 ± 0.38 m s–1, respectively) while surface and fine-wire EMG activities of flexor hallucis longus (FHL), soleus (SOL), medial gastrocnemius (MG) and lateral gastrocnemius (LG), and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles were recorded. Surface and intramuscular peak-normalised EMG amplitudes were compared for each muscle and speed across the stance phase using Statistical Parametric Mapping. In FHL, we found differences around peak activity at all speeds except fast. There was no difference in MG at any speed or in LG at slow and preferred speeds. For SOL and LG, differences were seen in the push-off phase at fast and maximum walking speeds. In SOL and TA, surface EMG registered activity during phases in which intramuscular EMG indicated inactivity. Our results suggest that surface EMG is generally a suitable method to measure MG and LG EMG activity across several walking speeds. Minimising cross-talk in FHL remains challenging. Furthermore, SOL and TA muscle onset/offset defined by surface EMG should be interpreted cautiously. These findings should be considered when recording and interpreting surface EMG of shank muscles in walking.https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2019.01283/fullbipedal locomotionankle plantar flexor musclessurface electromyographyEMGintramuscular electromyography |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Annamária Péter Eva Andersson Eva Andersson András Hegyi Taija Finni Olga Tarassova Neil Cronin Helen Grundström Anton Arndt Anton Arndt |
spellingShingle |
Annamária Péter Eva Andersson Eva Andersson András Hegyi Taija Finni Olga Tarassova Neil Cronin Helen Grundström Anton Arndt Anton Arndt Comparing Surface and Fine-Wire Electromyography Activity of Lower Leg Muscles at Different Walking Speeds Frontiers in Physiology bipedal locomotion ankle plantar flexor muscles surface electromyography EMG intramuscular electromyography |
author_facet |
Annamária Péter Eva Andersson Eva Andersson András Hegyi Taija Finni Olga Tarassova Neil Cronin Helen Grundström Anton Arndt Anton Arndt |
author_sort |
Annamária Péter |
title |
Comparing Surface and Fine-Wire Electromyography Activity of Lower Leg Muscles at Different Walking Speeds |
title_short |
Comparing Surface and Fine-Wire Electromyography Activity of Lower Leg Muscles at Different Walking Speeds |
title_full |
Comparing Surface and Fine-Wire Electromyography Activity of Lower Leg Muscles at Different Walking Speeds |
title_fullStr |
Comparing Surface and Fine-Wire Electromyography Activity of Lower Leg Muscles at Different Walking Speeds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Comparing Surface and Fine-Wire Electromyography Activity of Lower Leg Muscles at Different Walking Speeds |
title_sort |
comparing surface and fine-wire electromyography activity of lower leg muscles at different walking speeds |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
series |
Frontiers in Physiology |
issn |
1664-042X |
publishDate |
2019-10-01 |
description |
Ankle plantar flexor muscles are active in the stance phase of walking to propel the body forward. Increasing walking speed requires increased plantar flexor excitation, frequently assessed using surface electromyography (EMG). Despite its popularity, validity of surface EMG applied on shank muscles is mostly unclear. Thus, we examined the agreement between surface and intramuscular EMG at a range of walking speeds. Ten participants walked overground at slow, preferred, fast, and maximum walking speeds (1.01 ± 0.13, 1.43 ± 0.19, 1.84 ± 0.23, and 2.20 ± 0.38 m s–1, respectively) while surface and fine-wire EMG activities of flexor hallucis longus (FHL), soleus (SOL), medial gastrocnemius (MG) and lateral gastrocnemius (LG), and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles were recorded. Surface and intramuscular peak-normalised EMG amplitudes were compared for each muscle and speed across the stance phase using Statistical Parametric Mapping. In FHL, we found differences around peak activity at all speeds except fast. There was no difference in MG at any speed or in LG at slow and preferred speeds. For SOL and LG, differences were seen in the push-off phase at fast and maximum walking speeds. In SOL and TA, surface EMG registered activity during phases in which intramuscular EMG indicated inactivity. Our results suggest that surface EMG is generally a suitable method to measure MG and LG EMG activity across several walking speeds. Minimising cross-talk in FHL remains challenging. Furthermore, SOL and TA muscle onset/offset defined by surface EMG should be interpreted cautiously. These findings should be considered when recording and interpreting surface EMG of shank muscles in walking. |
topic |
bipedal locomotion ankle plantar flexor muscles surface electromyography EMG intramuscular electromyography |
url |
https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphys.2019.01283/full |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT annamariapeter comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds AT evaandersson comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds AT evaandersson comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds AT andrashegyi comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds AT taijafinni comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds AT olgatarassova comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds AT neilcronin comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds AT helengrundstrom comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds AT antonarndt comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds AT antonarndt comparingsurfaceandfinewireelectromyographyactivityoflowerlegmusclesatdifferentwalkingspeeds |
_version_ |
1724962202314604544 |