Applicability of Affordable sEMG in Ergonomics Practice

摘要

This study was conducted in order to assess the potential of low-cost surface electromyography (sEMG) measurement systems to be applied in ergonomics practice on the example of provided relative grip force estimates. Two measurement configurations, with a total cost below $100, were compared with a commercially available electromyograph. It was hypothesized that Arduino based do-it-yourself measurement systems do not perform significantly worse than commercially available electromyograph. Ten participants’ normalized sEMG activity of the m. flexor digitorum superficialis were compared in the case of three submaximal isometric hand grip force levels (25%, 50%, 75% of maximum voluntary contraction). Normalized sEMG activity, measured with different systems, was not statistically different. It was concluded that low-cost measurement systems have the potential to be used in order to detect muscle activation-deactivation patterns or at least the semi-quantitative assessment of grip force; however, the results of this study are limited to isometric contractions.