Differences in electromechanical delay components induced by sex, age and physical activity level: new insights from a combined electromyographic, mechanomyographic and force approach

Sözen, Hasan; Cè, Emiliano; Bisconti, A.V.; Rampichini, Susanna; Longo, Stefano; Coratella, Giuseppe; Shokohyar, S.; Doria, Christian; Borrelli, Marta; Limonta, Eloisa; Esposito, Fabio

doi:10.1007/s11332-019-00563-z

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Moreover, simulating other phenomena that are believed to influence EMD, such as the temperature, gender, age, training, and pathological conditions (cf. e.g., Yavuz et al, 2010; Cè et al, 2013; Esposito et al, 2016; Sözen et al, 2019), is beyond the capabilities of the utilized model.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, gender, age, physical activity, fatigue, muscle temperature, and pathological conditions showed to influence EMD (cf. e.g., Yavuz et al, 2010; Cè et al, 2013; Esposito et al, 2016; Sözen et al, 2019). EMD is associated with injuries; for example, an increased EMD is associated with the enhanced risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in women (cf.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Characterization of Electromechanical Delay Based on a Biophysical Multi-Scale Skeletal Muscle Model

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Skeletal muscles can be voluntary controlled by the somatic nervous system yielding an active contractile stress response. Thereby, the active muscle stresses are transmitted to the skeleton by a cascade of connective tissue and thus enable motion. In the context of joint perturbations as well as the assessment of the complexity of neural control, the initial phase of the muscle-tendon system's stress response has a particular importance and is analyzed by means of electromechanical delay (EMD). EMD is defined as the time lag between the stimulation of a muscle and a measurable change in force output. While EMD is believed to depend on multiple structures / phenomena, it is hard to separate their contributions experimentally. We employ a physiologically detailed, three-dimensional, multi-scale model of an idealized muscle-tendon system to analyze the influence of (i) muscle and tendon length, (ii) the material behavior of skeletal muscle and tendon tissue, (iii) the chemo-electro-mechanical behavior of the muscle fibers and (iv) neural control on EMD. Comparisons with experimental data show that simulated EMD values are within the physiological range, i.e., between 6.1 and 68.6 ms, and that the model is able to reproduce the characteristic EMD-stretch curve, yielding the minimum EMD at optimal length. Simulating consecutive recruitment of motor units increases EMD by more than 20 ms, indicating that during voluntary contractions neural control is the dominant factor determining EMD. In contrast, the muscle fiber action potential conduction velocity is found to influence EMD even of a 27 cm long muscle by not more than 3.7 ms. We further demonstrate that in conditions where only little pre-stretch is applied to a muscle-tendon system, the mechanical behavior of both muscle and tendon tissue considerably impacts EMD. Predicting EMD for different muscle and tendon lengths indicates that the anatomy of a specific muscle-tendon system is optimized for its function, i.e., shorter tendon lengths are beneficial to minimize the neural control effort for muscles primary acting as motor in concentric contractions.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of Electromechanical Delay Based on a Biophysical Multi-Scale Skeletal Muscle Model

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This is potentially due to the variation in the effect of BT in the muscle as suggested by earlier groups ( 44 ). A major contributing factor in this scenario is the length of the muscle-tendon unit ( 5 ), which is often affected by prolonged dosages of BT ( 15 ). The trend of the EMD values was well correlated with the MVC force for our subjects across the different sessions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This may be attributable to the architectural limitations of the shortcoming in a spastic muscle during the contraction, which also played an important role in the force generation ( 47 ). Moreover, the stiffness of the spastic muscle has also been reported to be influenced by a BT injection, and this could also influence the force generation ( 5 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In humans, this lag is routinely computed as the time difference between the onset of the sEMG and the detected force, and it has been designated as the electromechanical delay ( 4 ). The value of the EMD can be used as a useful biomarker for assessments of neuromuscular atrophy ( 5 ) and as a potential internal disruption of the muscle architecture ( 6 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Characteristic Variation of Electromechanical Delay After the Botulinum Toxin Injection in Spastic Biceps Brachii Muscles

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objective of this study was to characterize the effects of intramuscular botulinum toxin (BT) injections on the electromechanical delay (EMD) in spastic human biceps muscles. The EMD is calculated as the time lag between the muscle activation onset, as recorded from the surface electromyogram (sEMG), and the onset of recorded force. In a cohort of chronic stroke survivors, we compared the computed EMD derived from the spastic (injected) biceps brachii with that from the contralateral muscle. Eight participants were tested before and up to 3 months after a BT injection. At each session, participants followed an isometric trapezoidal force trajectory at 50 and 30%, respectively, of the tested maximum voluntary contraction (MVC). Joint force and sEMG signals were recorded as well. The number of zero crossings (ZC) of the sEMG during the steady-state portion of the task was also computed. The EMD post-BT was found to increase by 64 ± 10% (at 50% MVC) and 93 ± 18% (at 30% MVC) when compared to pre-BT values, while the number of sEMG-ZC, the mean MVC values, and the force-EMD slope exhibited striking reductions. These parameters, calculated on the contralateral side, remained relatively constant across sessions, with the EMD significantly lower and the MVC values much higher. We discuss potential contributing factors to an increase in EMD values on the affected side, both pre- and post-BT. The observed co-variation across sessions of the increased EMD values with the decreased ZC estimates, a surrogate of motor outflow, and, potentially, more compliant muscle fascicles suggests that the altered motor unit (MU) behavior contributes, at least in part, to the delayed force production.

show abstract

Robust Machine Learning Mapping of sEMG Signals to Future Actuator Commands in Biomechatronic Devices

Nasr,

Bell,

Whittaker

et al. 2023

J Bionic Eng

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Differences in electromechanical delay components induced by sex, age and physical activity level: new insights from a combined electromyographic, mechanomyographic and force approach

Cited by 7 publications

References 38 publications

Characterization of Electromechanical Delay Based on a Biophysical Multi-Scale Skeletal Muscle Model

Characterization of Electromechanical Delay Based on a Biophysical Multi-Scale Skeletal Muscle Model

Characteristic Variation of Electromechanical Delay After the Botulinum Toxin Injection in Spastic Biceps Brachii Muscles

Robust Machine Learning Mapping of sEMG Signals to Future Actuator Commands in Biomechatronic Devices

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About