Physiology and Mathematics of Myoelectric Signals
Abstract
The myoelectric (ME) signal is the electrical manifestation of the neuromuscular activation associated with a contracting muscle. It is an exceedingly complicated signal which is affected by the anatomical and physiological properties of muscles, the control scheme of the peripheral nervous system, as well as the characteristics of the instrumentation that is used to detect and observe it. Most of the relationships between the ME signal and the properties of a contracting muscle which are presently employed have evolved serendipitously. The lack of a proper description of the ME signal is probably the greatest single factor which has hampered the development of electromyography (EMG) into a precise discipline.
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Muscle force is partly proportional to the amplitude of the EMG signal.
“The fact that the force developed by a muscle is partly proportional to the amplitude of the EMG signal [25] is the physiological rationale for the interpretation of these ratios.”
From Comparison of muscle activation imbalance following core stability or general exercises in nonspecific low back pain: a quasi-randomized controlled trial (2020) · cites this paper as [25]
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- Authors
- De Luca, C. J.
- Venue
- IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering
- Published
- 1979-06
- Volume
- BME-26
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 313-325
- ISSN
- 0018-9294 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2118395035
- Cited by
- 684
- References
- 74
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 19 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 30 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 20
- FWCI
- 12.78
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Muscle activation and electromyography studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Muscle Physiology and Disorders
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Keywords
- myoelectric signals, electromyography, neuromuscular activation, muscle contraction, muscle physiology
- MeSH terms
- Action Potentials, Electromyography, Electrophysiology, Humans, Mathematics, Models, Neurological, Motor Neurons, Muscle Contraction, Muscles, Recruitment, Neurophysiological
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