Background:The aim of this study is to present the results of experiments in which surface electromyography (sEMG) and thermal imaging were used to assess the muscle activation during gait and to verify the hypothesis that there is a relationship in the case of low fatigue level between sEMG-measured muscle activation, assessed in the frequency domain, and thermal factors calculated as minimum, maximum, kurtosis, mean, median, and mode from the area of interest. 2) Methods: Comparison of activity calculated from the recorded sEMG data for rectus femoris (RF), biceps femoris, tibialis anterior, and gastrocnemius medialis (GM) with thermal data obtained from the infrared vision. 3) Results: Data of 14 healthy volunteers obtained during 10 min of treadmill gait are presented and analyzed. The analysis revealed statistically significant linear correlations for RF (five moderate relationships) and GM (one good relationship) and moderate nonlinear correlations for all examined muscles. Also, a detailed protocol for precise, repeatable thermal examination is presented. 4) Conclusions: Estimated moderate linear and nonlinear correlations between thermal and electromyographic parameters are found for low level of muscle fatigue, which suggests that the presented method is useful in the analysis of muscle activation with the use of a thermal imaging as a complement to sEMG.
Physical and mathematical model of a threedimensional double physical pendulum being coupled by two universal joints is studied. Upper joint of this pendulum is periodically rotated in its axial direction. Damping forces and torques inside joints as well as an influence of the gravitational field and damping forces and torques inside joints are taken into account during derivation of the ODEs of this mechanical system. The work consists of mathematical modelling, computer simulation and parts of the experimental analysis to confirm the numerical simulations. The experimental setup realizes kinetic excitation by an nonconstant periodic torque of servomotor, controlled by the computer. Four incremental encoders are mounted on pendulum joints, so the angles of rotation of the pendulum are measured in real-time and analysed by an originally developed acquisition software. Future plans of the mathematical and experimental model are also discussed. Presented exemplary results showed a number of non-linear effects, including chaos, quasi-periodic and periodic dynamics.
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