Muscle activity during stance phase of walking: Comparison of males with transfemoral amputation with osseointegrated fixations to nondisabled male volunteers

Abstract

Abstract-A recent development in prosthetics is the osseointegrated fixation (OF), with improvements in comfort, fatigue, hip movement, and ease of prosthetic attachment reported. However, little information is available regarding muscle function. This study reports on selected gait parameters of the residual limb during the stance phase of level overground walking, focusing on muscle activity. Five males with transfemoral amputation (TFA) with OFs were recruited. Ground reaction force (GRF), lower-limb kinematics, and surface electromyography (sEMG) from residual-limb muscles were recorded. sEMG data were also collected from a group of 10 nondisabled male subjects. Interstance variability of gait parameters was assessed by coefficient of multiple correlations. Repeatability of GRF and hip kinematics was high, whereas repeatability of the sEMG was low for four of the five individuals with TFA. Interstance variability of the sEMG for gluteus medius (GMED) was significantly greater in the group with TFA. The main difference in sEMG between the groups was the phase, with GMED and adductor magnus displaying greater differences than their counterparts in the nondisabled group. Results demonstrate that muscles in the residual limb retain aspects of their previous functional pattern.

The use of surface electromyography to assess transfemoral amputees: methodological and functional perspective

“…The selected studies had as main objectives: to investigate the electromyographic patterns of amputees using osteo fixed prostheses 7,8 , to verify possible changes and adaptations in muscle activation after amputation and prosthetization process 5,6,12,13 , to evaluate the kinematic and electromyographic variation of the muscles during gait 4,5,13 , to describe the behavior of ground reaction force and electromyographic activation 14 .…”

“…However, before the development and prescription of prosthetics, it is necessary to understand muscle condition after amputation and investigate its effects on life activity [4][5][6] . Although it is fundamental, there is a lack of research investigating muscle function after amputation [6][7][8] . The evaluation of the residual musculature provides valuable information about the adaptations that occur; however, its form of acquisition and reproducibility can be compromised by the absence of studies.…”

Effect of Parkinson’s disease and two therapeutic interventions on muscle activity during walking: a systematic review

“…Another study observed people with diabetic neuropathy to have earlier onset of activity of soleus (SO), medial gastrocnemius (MG) and semimembranosus/ semitendinosus compared to HOA 28 . Alterations in muscle activity patterns during walking have also been observed in people with transfemoral amputation 29 and individuals with cervical spondylotic myelopathy compared to healthy controls 30 . However, it is not clear what changes occur in muscle activity during walking in people with PD.…”

“…Interpretation of EMG activity is challenging, as there is high intra-individual and inter-individual variability in EMG activity patterns compared to kinematic and kinetic signals 29 . This is due to numerous muscles performing similar actions across joints, resulting in multiple sets of muscles able to perform a specific motor task rather than a single set, described by Latash 43 as the 'principle of abundance' 43 .…”

Design and Voluntary Motion Intention Estimation of a Novel Wearable Full-Body Flexible Exoskeleton Robot

“…In [10], the walking gait cycle was divided into the stance phase and the swing phase. Murray et al [11] proposed an assistive approach without dictating the spatiotemporal nature of joint movement for the lower limb exoskeleton; a finite-state machine consisting of six gait phase states was used to govern the exoskeleton controller.…”