Yamagami Momona, Peters Keshia M, Milovanovic Ivana, Kuang Irene, Yang Zeyu, Lu Nanshu, Steele Katherine M
Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
Sensors (Basel). 2018 Apr 20;18(4):1269. doi: 10.3390/s18041269.
Commercially available electrodes can only provide quality surface electromyography (sEMG) measurements for a limited duration due to user discomfort and signal degradation, but in many applications, collecting sEMG data for a full day or longer is desirable to enhance clinical care. Few studies for long-term sEMG have assessed signal quality of electrodes using clinically relevant tests. The goal of this research was to evaluate flexible, gold-based epidermal sensor system (ESS) electrodes for long-term sEMG recordings. We collected sEMG and impedance data from eight subjects from ESS and standard clinical electrodes on upper extremity muscles during maximum voluntary isometric contraction tests, dynamic range of motion tests, the Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test, and the Box & Block Test. Four additional subjects were recruited to test the stability of ESS signals over four days. Signals from the ESS and traditional electrodes were strongly correlated across tasks. Measures of signal quality, such as signal-to-noise ratio and signal-to-motion ratio, were also similar for both electrodes. Over the four-day trial, no significant decrease in signal quality was observed in the ESS electrodes, suggesting that thin, flexible electrodes may provide a robust tool that does not inhibit movement or irritate the skin for long-term measurements of muscle activity in rehabilitation and other applications.
由于用户不适和信号退化，市售电极仅能在有限的时间内提供高质量的表面肌电图（sEMG）测量结果，但在许多应用中，为了加强临床护理，需要收集一整天或更长时间的sEMG数据。很少有关于长期sEMG的研究使用临床相关测试来评估电极的信号质量。本研究的目的是评估用于长期sEMG记录的柔性金基表皮传感器系统（ESS）电极。在最大自主等长收缩测试、动态运动范围测试、Jebsen Taylor手功能测试和箱块测试期间，我们从8名受试者的上肢肌肉中收集了来自ESS和标准临床电极的sEMG和阻抗数据。另外招募了4名受试者来测试ESS信号在四天内的稳定性。在不同任务中，ESS和传统电极的信号高度相关。两种电极的信号质量指标，如信噪比和信号与运动比，也相似。在为期四天的试验中，未观察到ESS电极的信号质量有显著下降，这表明薄的柔性电极可能提供一种强大的工具，在康复和其他应用中进行肌肉活动的长期测量时，不会抑制运动或刺激皮肤。
