Article
Sport Sciences
Jakob Skarabot, Jonathan P. Folland, Jules Forsyth, Apostolos Vazoukis, Ales Holobar, Alessandro Del Vecchio
Summary: This study examined the motor unit (MU) discharge properties and MU conduction velocity in long-term resistance-trained (RT) and untrained (UT) men. The results showed that both groups had similar MU discharge characteristics during maximal and submaximal contractions, while the RT group had higher MU conduction velocity, which may explain the strength difference between the two groups.
MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS & EXERCISE
(2023)
Article
Physiology
Paolo Manganotti, Alex Buoite Stella, Milos Ajcevic, Filippo Giorgio di Girolamo, Gianni Biolo, Martino Franchi, Elena Monti, Giuseppe Sirago, Uros Marusic, Bostjan Simunic, Marco Narici, Rado Pisot
Summary: After 10 days of horizontal bed rest in young healthy males, reductions in F wave responses in the peripheral nerves were observed, suggesting dysfunction, while no changes were seen in nerve ultrasound or other parameters. This indicates that during simulated microgravity, the majority of changes occur at the muscle or central nervous system level.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOLOGY-REGULATORY INTEGRATIVE AND COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Stuart Maitland, Julie Hall, Andrew McNeill, Ben Stenberg, Ian Schofield, Roger Whittaker
Summary: Ultrasound-guided motor unit scanning EMG is a quick and accurate method for obtaining a targeted motor unit transect. This combination of two readily available clinical tools provides insights into the dimensions and internal structure of the motor unit as a marker for neuromuscular conditions.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Dennis Yeung, Francesco Negro, Ivan Vujaklija
Summary: The careful selection of tracked motor units (MUs) can optimize the efficiency of MU-driven interfacing. By leveraging MUs that exhibit strong nonlinear relationships with target motions, resources can be freed up for the implementation of more robust and adaptive MU decoding techniques in the future.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL SYSTEMS AND REHABILITATION ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Yaodan Xu, Kaichen Wang, Yibin Jin, Fang Qiu, Yang Yao, Lin Xu
Summary: This study systematically investigated the influence of electrode configuration on muscle fiber conduction velocity estimation. It was found that normalized bipolar configuration produced the most accurate estimation.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Milos Kalc, Jakob Skarabot, Matjaz Divjak, Filip Urh, Matej Kramberger, Matjaz Vogrin, Ales Holobar
Summary: We developed and tested a methodology for identifying individual motor unit (MU) firings from surface high-density EMG recorded Hoffman reflex (H-reflex). Synthetic HD-EMG signals were constructed to simulate different levels of muscle contractions and H-reflexes, while experimental H-reflexes were recorded from 12 men using HD-EMG arrays. The Convolution Kernel Compensation method was used to estimate MU filters, which accurately identified MU firings and latencies in both synthetic and experimental signals.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL SYSTEMS AND REHABILITATION ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Xiao Tang, Xu Zhang, Maoqi Chen, Xiang Chen, Xun Chen
Summary: This study introduces a novel framework for interpreting motor unit (MU) activities and applying it to muscle force decoding. By characterizing the spatially distributed firing waveforms of MUs and utilizing a twitch force model, a deep network is designed to predict normalized force. Examination of MU category distribution to calibrate actual force levels shows the effectiveness of this framework in muscle force estimation.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL SYSTEMS AND REHABILITATION ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Sport Sciences
Ivana Petrovic, Ioannis G. Amiridis, Ales Holobar, Georgios Trypidakis, Eleftherios Kellis, Roger M. Enoka
Summary: The aim of this study was to compare the maximal force, force steadiness, and discharge characteristics of motor units in the tibialis anterior muscle during contractions with the dorsiflexors of the dominant and nondominant legs at different ankle angles and target forces. The results showed that the maximal force and force steadiness were similar between the two legs, regardless of the ankle angle or target force. The attributes associated with the dominant leg were not related to the force capacity or control of the dorsiflexor muscles.
MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS & EXERCISE
(2022)
Article
Physiology
Eduardo Martinez-Valdes, Francesco Negro, Alberto Botter, Patricio A. Pincheira, Giacinto Luigi Cerone, Deborah Falla, Glen A. Lichtwark, Andrew G. Cresswell
Summary: The integration of electromyography (EMG) and ultrasound imaging has provided important insights into muscle activation and contraction mechanisms. This study demonstrates the relationship between tibialis anterior muscle (TA) motor unit discharge, fascicle length, and dorsiflexion torque using ultrasound-transparent high-density EMG electrodes. The findings highlight the interplay between neural drive, muscle contraction, and torque during sustained isometric contractions.
JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Clinical Neurology
Andrea Barp, Elena Carraro, Francesca Salmin, Andrea Lizio, Marta Cheli, Valeria Sansone
Summary: This study explored facial nerve response, MUNIX, and MUSIX in patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and compared them with healthy control subjects. The results showed that CMAP of the facial nerve and MUNIX of the orbicularis oculi muscle had high accuracy in discriminating between different subtypes of SMA and quantifying motor unit loss of the facial nerve.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Manouane Caza-Szoka, Daniel Massicotte
Summary: This study demonstrates the impact of conduction velocity (CV) and motor unit action potential (MUAPs) synchronization on the results of Surrogate Analysis (SA) of surface electromyography (sEMG) signals. The findings suggest that SA is a useful feature for estimating CV and MUAPs synchronization and is independent of spectral features and moderately correlated with nonlinear features.
BIOMEDICAL SIGNAL PROCESSING AND CONTROL
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Yuichi Nishikawa, Kohei Watanabe, Ales Holobar, Tetsuya Takahashi, Noriaki Maeda, Hirofumi Maruyama, Shinobu Tanaka, Allison S. Hyngstrom
Summary: The study revealed a moderate-to-strong correlation between degeneration of dopaminergic pathways and MU firing behavior in PD patients, indicating that abnormalities in MU activity can be used to predict central nervous system degeneration following PD.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Defu Dong, Hongwei Liu
Summary: This study retrospectively explored the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and the features of nerve injury in 353 type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. The results showed a higher prevalence of sensory nerve injury than motor nerve injury in CTS patients. Abnormal rates of sensory and motor nerve conduction velocity were higher in the right median nerve. Furthermore, significant differences in abnormal rates of sensory nerve conduction velocity were found between genders.
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Malte Mechtenberg, Axel Schneider
Summary: Motion predictions for limbs can be made using Hill-based muscle models, which require additional information about the mechanical system state of the muscle for accurate predictions. The position of the center of the innervation zone, extracted from surface electromyograms (sEMG), can provide potential information about the muscle state. A wavelet-based algorithm is proposed to locate motor unit potentials in sEMG channels and identify innervation point candidates, allowing estimation of the innervation zone center.
FRONTIERS IN NEUROROBOTICS
(2023)
Article
Physiology
Kylie K. Harmon, Adam S. Hamilton, Brent D. Johnson, Frank J. Bartek, Ryan M. Girts, Rob J. MacLennan, Debbie L. Hahs-Vaughn, Matt S. Stock
Summary: The study compared the motor unit action potential (MUAP) amplitude at different torque levels and in fatigue conditions. Results showed that MUAP amplitude during a 30% MVC fatiguing protocol was comparable to that during a non-fatigued 80% MVC condition.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Medicine, General & Internal
Marco Barbero, Marcos J. Navarro-Santana, Maria Palacios-Cena, Ricardo Ortega-Santiago, Corrado Cescon, Deborah Falla, Cesar Fernandez-de-las-Penas
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
Marco Caruso, Angelo Maria Sabatini, Marco Knaflitz, Marco Gazzoni, Ugo Della Croce, Andrea Cereatti
Summary: This article presents a method for suboptimally setting input parameters of sensor fusion algorithms by exploiting the assumption that two rigidly connected MIMUs should show no orientation difference during motion. The approach was successfully validated and tested on 18 different experimental conditions, showing consistent results with the trial-and-error method in most cases.
IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Maria M. Johansson, Marco Barbero, Anneli Peolsson, Deborah Falla, Corrado Cescon, Anna Folli, Huan-Ji Dong
Summary: This study investigated how pain characteristics impact quality of life in a vulnerable primary care population, finding that intensity, frequency, and extent of pain are negatively associated with quality of life. The research suggests that a global pain assessment can help in developing individual treatment and rehabilitation strategies for this aging population.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Ambra Giustetto, Fabio Vieira Dos Anjos, Francesca Gallo, Rossella Monferino, Giacinto Luigi Cerone, Massimo Di Pardo, Marco Gazzoni, Margherita Micheletti Cremasco
Summary: This study found that passive exoskeletons are effective in reducing back load but can increase discomfort in non-targeted areas. Despite the reduction in back muscle activity, this may lead to an increase in perceived effort.
Article
Rehabilitation
Cira Fundaro, Marco Gazzoni, Gian D. Pinna, Carlo Dallocchio, Alberto Rainoldi, Roberto Casale
Summary: The study aimed to assess if muscles in PD exhibit a different myoelectric fatigue pattern compared to healthy age-matched subjects. Results showed that parkinsonian muscles do not differ in developing peripheral myoelectric fatigue compared to healthy age-matched subjects.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL AND REHABILITATION MEDICINE
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
G. L. Cerone, A. Giangrande, M. Ghislieri, M. Gazzoni, H. Piitulainen, A. Botter
Summary: This study describes the design and validation of a new fully wireless body sensor network for the integrated acquisition of EEG and HD-sEMG signals. The proposed device represents an advancement in technology and allows for the study of sensorimotor integration. The system was characterized in terms of synchronization accuracy and signal quality, and compared to a wired benchmark device.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL SYSTEMS AND REHABILITATION ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alba Thio-Pera, Matteo De Carlo, Andrea Manzoni, Fabrizio D'Elia, Giacinto Luigi Cerone, Giovanni Putame, Mara Terzini, Marco Gazzoni, Cristina Bignardi, Taian Vieira
Summary: This study used electromyograms to assess muscle activation in professional pianists and found spatial consistency of excitation in specific forearm regions during different piano playing tasks. These findings could contribute to our understanding of playing-related musculoskeletal disorders and provide a reference for studying muscle loading in piano players.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Paride Cavallone, Taian Vieira, Giuseppe Quaglia, Marco Gazzoni
Summary: This study evaluated the impact of the Handwheelchair.Q, a pulley-cable mechanism, on muscle activation compared to the conventional pushrim system. It was found that the two propulsion systems resulted in opposite patterns of muscle activation. The Handwheelchair.Q achieved a significantly greater average displacement and did not overload the shoulder muscles.
MEDICAL ENGINEERING & PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Paola Adamo, Francesco Oddenino, Davide De Leo, Miriana Agnelli, Corrado Cescon, Federico Temporiti, Roberto Gatti
Summary: The study investigated the test-retest reliability of knee helical axes (HA) dispersion during walking, as well as the effects of maximal and resistance strength training on knee HA dispersion. The results showed that the HA dispersion indexes were reliable parameters for assessing knee stability during walking, and the strength training did not induce changes in knee HA dispersion.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Cesar Fernandez-de-Las-Penas, Stella Fuensalida-Novo, Ricardo Ortega-Santiago, Juan A. Valera-Calero, Corrado Cescon, Marco Derboni, Vincenzo Giuffrida, Marco Barbero
Summary: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between pain extent and sensory-related, cognitive, and psychological variables in hospitalized COVID-19 survivors with post-COVID pain. The study found that pain extent was weakly and negatively associated with pain intensity. However, there were no significant associations between pain extent and other measured variables in individuals with post-COVID pain.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Neurosciences
Fabio dos Anjos, Talita P. Pinto, Giacinto L. Cerone, Marco Gazzoni, Taian M. Vieira
Summary: This study investigates the effects of EMG biofeedback on postural muscle activity. The results suggest that using EMG audio feedback can reduce calf muscle activity but may result in increased activity in other muscles.
JOURNAL OF ELECTROMYOGRAPHY AND KINESIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
F. Dos Anjos, G. Boccia, P. R. Brustio, A. Rainoldi, M. Gazzoni
Summary: This study addresses the issue of finding an optimal bipolar positioning for selective activation of the lower trapezius during pulling exercises using high-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG).
PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Talita P. P. Pinto, Andrea Turolla, Marco Gazzoni, Michela Agostini, Taian M. M. Vieira
Summary: Degeneration of lower motoneurons is commonly found in stroke survivors, however, surviving motoneurons may innervate denervated muscle fibers as compensation. In this study, we used electrical stimulation and surface electromyography to examine the variations in M wave amplitudes in paretic muscles compared to non-paretic muscles after stroke. The results showed significantly greater increments in paretic muscles, indicating collateral reinnervation and enlargement of motor units. This non-invasive analysis may be useful for monitoring disease progression and clinical outcomes in stroke survivors.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Information Systems
Giacinto Luigi Cerone, Alessandra Giangrande, Taian Vieira, Domenico Pisaturo, Mihai Ionescu, Marco Gazzoni, Alberto Botter
Summary: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation is widely used in various fields, but current devices are bulky and have limited interfacing capabilities. This study aims to design and develop an innovative electrical stimulator to address these issues. Utilizing wireless modules and a modular architecture, the device shows great practical potential in use-case scenarios.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Giacinto Luigi Cerone, Alberto Botter, Taian Vieira, Marco Gazzoni
Summary: A wearable, high-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) detection system based on textile technology was designed, characterized, and tested in dynamic conditions, showing comparable performance to conventional systems in stability of signal recording, electrode-skin interface properties, and quality of collected sEMG signals.
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON NEURAL SYSTEMS AND REHABILITATION ENGINEERING
(2021)