Reliability and validity of muscle activity analysis using wearable electromyographs.
Tadamitsu Matsuda, Takayuki Miyamori, Yuji Fujino and 2 others
PMID 38434994WHAT IT FOUND
The new wearable EMG gave repeatable readings in 23 healthy young adults, but it did not match an established device closely.
Key findings
01The new device had reliability coefficients of 0.959 for elbow flexion and 0.971 for elbow extension, higher than the established device's 0.835 and 0.727.
02The two devices were significantly correlated for biceps (r=0.59) and triceps (r=0.42), yet agreement was low.
03Fixation errors ranged from -1.17 to -0.55 for elbow flexion and -1.70 to -0.39 for elbow extension, and the established device's measurements were slightly smaller.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample was small and consisted only of healthy right-handed college students. Only elbow flexion and extension were measured. The two devices had different sampling frequencies and electrode distances, and their placement sites slightly differed, which may have introduced systematic error. Agreement between devices was low despite significant correlation, so cross-device comparisons are not supported. The study was funded by NOK Corporation.
Declared interests
The research was funded by NOK Corporation. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the new wearable EMG can replace an established device for precise muscle activity measurement. Within-device reliability was high, but agreement between devices was low and systematic errors were present.