EMG Fatigue Analysis

[Jenna Montgomery]

We are in the process of analyzing EMG data in ergonomically favorable and unfavorable postures. Does anyone have any suggestions on what analyses to perform to quantify fatigue for these static load conditions? Thank you!

Jenna D. Montgomery, BS
Laboratory Manager and Research Coordinator
Human Movement and Balance Laboratory
University of Pittsburgh
jdm139@pitt.edu

[Will Robertson]

Re: EMG Fatigue Analysis

We are in the process of analyzing EMG data in ergonomically favorable and unfavorable postures. Does anyone have any suggestions on what analyses to perform to quantify fatigue for these static load conditions?

I haven't done it personally, but the standard technique that I'm aware of is to assess the frequency spectra of the activation signal over time. The higher the amount of fatigue, the less-broad the frequency content. E.g., see De Luca's "The Use of Surface Electromyography in Biomechanics". This is easily done in Matlab using the pwelch command, for example.

[Matthew Tenan]

Re: EMG Fatigue Analysis

I would suggest running a search on "EMG Fatigue" in the forum. This topic has been discussed a number of times, most recently in the last few weeks. There are a number of options, all of which have their limitations.

[Tarkeshwar Singh]

Re: EMG Fatigue Analysis

Hello Jenna,
Please refer to the following papers (the list obviously includes only a small body of work) to get some ideas on using EMG data for assessing fatigue.

1) Cifrek, M., Medved, V., Tonkovic, S., Ostojic, S., 2009. Surface EMG based muscle fatigue evaluation in biomechanics. Clinical Biomechanics 24, 327-340.
2)Dimitrova, N.A., Dimitrov, G.V., 2003. Interpretation of EMG changes with fatigue: facts, pitfalls, and fallacies. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology 13, 13-36.
3)Viitasalo, J.H.T., Komi, P.V., 1977. Signal characteristics of EMG during fatigue. European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology 37, 111-121.
4)Vøllestad, N.K., 1997. Measurement of human muscle fatigue. Journal of Neuroscience Methods 74, 219-227.
5) Sparto, P.J., Parnianpour, M., Barria, E.A., Jagadeesh, J.M., 2000. Wavelet and short-time Fourier transform analysis of electromyography for detection of back muscle fatigue. IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering 8, 433-436.
6) Subasi, A., Kiymik, M.K., 2010. Muscle fatigue detection in EMG using time–frequency nethods, ICA and neural networks. Journal of Medical Systems 34, 777-785.

Hope that helps.

Regards,
Tarkesh