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Review
. 2023 Mar 26;53(5):1019-1031.
doi: 10.55730/1300-0144.5667. eCollection 2023.

Current developments in surface electromyography

Veysel Alcan  1 , Murat Zinnuroğlu  2
Affiliations
Review

Current developments in surface electromyography

Veysel Alcan et al. Turk J Med Sci. .

Abstract

Background/aim: Surface electromyography (surface EMG) is a primary technique to detect the electrical activities of muscles through surface electrodes. In recent years, surface EMG applications have grown from conventional fields into new fields. However, there is a gap between the progress in the research of surface EMG and its clinical acceptance, characterized by the translational knowledge and skills in the widespread use of surface EMG among the clinician community. To reduce this gap, it is necessary to translate the updated surface EMG applications and technological advances into clinical research. Therefore, we aimed to present a perspective on recent developments in the application of surface EMG and signal processing methods.

Materials and methods: We conducted this scoping review following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) method. We conducted a general search of PubMed and Web of Science to identify key search terms. Following the search, we uploaded selected articles into Rayyan and removed duplicates. After prescreening 133 titles and abstracts, we assessed 91 full texts according to the inclusion criteria.

Results: We concluded that surface EMG has made innovative technological progress and has research potential for routine clinical applications and a wide range of applications, such as neurophysiology, sports and art performances, biofeedback, physical therapy and rehabilitation, assessment of physical exercises, muscle strength, fatigue, posture and postural control, movement analysis, muscle coordination, motor synergies, modelling, and more. Novel methods have been applied for surface EMG signals in terms of time domain, frequency domain, time-frequency domain, statistical methods, and nonlinear methods.

Conclusion: Translating innovations in surface EMG and signal analysis methods into routine clinical applications can be a helpful tool with a growing and valuable role in muscle activation measurement in clinical practices. Thus, researchers must build many more interfaces that give opportunities for continuing education and research with more contemporary techniques and devices.

Keywords: Surface electromyography; biofeedback; electrophysiology; kinesiology; neurophysiology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest and informed consent statements: The authors have no conflicts of interest that may have influenced either the conduct or the presentation of the research. The research for this manuscript was not conducted with human subjects.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Different surface EMG electrodes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
IZ detection with different electrode locations: a) surface electrode pairs, b) linear electrode array, and c) grid electrodes.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Conventional signal analysis methods for surface EMG: a) raw surface EMG in the time domain, b) rectified surface EMG signal, c) smoothed surface EMG signal, and d) PS of surface EMG signal in the frequency domain.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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