Analysis of the activation modalities of the lower limb muscles during walking

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Li, Wei^{a; b} | Li, Zhongli^{a; *} | Qie, Shuyan^b | Yang, Huaqing^c | Chen, Xuemei^d | Liu, Yancheng^d | Li, Zongju^f | Zhang, Kuan^{g; *}

Affiliations: [a] Department of Orthopedics, General Hospital of PLA, Beijing, China | [b] Department of Rehabilitation, Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China | [c] Department of Orthopedics, Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China | [d] Health Management Center, Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China | [e] Department of Spinal Surgery, Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin, China | [f] Department of Orthopedics, Dongping County People’s Hospital, Taian, Shandong, China | [g] School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding authors: Zhongli Li, Department of Orthopedics, General Hospital of PLA, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100853, China. Tel.: +86 10 66938406; Fax: +86 10 66938406; E-mail: [email protected]. Kuan Zhang, School of Biomedical Engineering, Capital Medical University, No.10 Xitoutiao, You An Men Wai, Beijing 100069, China. Tel.: +86 10 83911806; Fax: +86 10 83911560; E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Walking is a basic human activity and many orthopedic diseases can manifest with gait abnormalities. However, the muscle activation intervals of lower limbs are not clear. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the contraction patterns of lower limb muscles by analyzing activation intervals using surface electromyography (SEMG) during walking. METHODS: Four muscles including the tibialis anterior (TA), lateral gastrocnemius (LG), medial gastrocnemius (MG), and rectus femoris (RF) of bilateral lower extremity of 92 healthy subjects were selected for SEMG measurements. The number of activations (activation intervals) and the point of the highest root mean square (RMS) EMG signal in the percentage of the gait cycle (GC) were used to analyze muscle activities. RESULTS: The majority of TA and RF showed two activation intervals and both gastrocnemius parts three activation intervals during walking. The point of the highest RMS EMG signal in the percentage of the GC for TA, LG, MG and RF are 5%, 41%, 40%, and 8%, respectively. The activation intervals were mostly affected by age, height, different genders and bilateral limbs. CONCLUSION: This study identified the different activation intervals (four for each muscle) and the proportion of healthy adults in which they occurred during the normal gait cycle. These different activation intervals provided a new insight to evaluate the function of nerves and muscles. In addition, the activation interval and RMS peak time proposed in this study can be used as new parameters for gait analysis.

Keywords: Surface electrography, activation intervals, peak time, gait cycle, walking

DOI: 10.3233/THC-191939

Journal: Technology and Health Care, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 521-532, 2020