Development of Surface EMG for Gait Analysis and Rehabilitation of Hemiparetic Patients.

BACKGROUND

The quantification of electromyographic activity using surface electrodes is invaluable for understanding gait disorders in patients with central nervous system lesions. We propose to evaluate a commercially available low-cost system compared to a reference system in participants with stroke-related movement disorders in functional situations.

METHODS

Three hemiparetic participants performed three functional tasks: two treadmill walks at different speeds and a sit-to-stand test. The vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius medialis muscles were equipped with two EMG sensors. The comparison between the two EMG systems was based on 883 identified cycles. Spearman's correlation coefficients (SCs), linear correlation coefficients (LCCs), and cross-correlation coefficients (CCCs) were calculated.

RESULTS

The main results indicate good to very good similarity of the EMG signals collected from the two tested sEMG systems. In the comfortable-walking condition, an SC of 0.894 ± 0.091 and an LCC of 0.909 ± 0.094 were noted. In the fast-walking condition, an SC of 0.918 ± 0.064 and an LCC of 0.935 ± 0.056 were observed. For the 1 min sit-to-stand test, an SC of 0.880 ± 0.058 and an LCC of 0.881 ± 0.065 were noted.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates good to very good similarity between the two sEMG systems, enabling the analysis of muscle activity during functional tasks.