Electromyographic activity of respiratory muscles: The possibility of considering diaphragmatic EMG as an isolated signal.

摘要

We would like to thank our colleagues from Amsterdam, G.J. Hutter, L.A. van Eykern, J.M. Crobben and W.M.C. van Aalderen, for their insightful comments on our recent publication (Nobre et al., 2007). We are gratefulto encounter such keen interest in our study and for their additional evidence concerning the electromyographic activity of respiratory muscles. Respiratory muscle electromyography (EMG) is a reliable method of assessing the ventilatory muscle function (ATS/ERS, 2002). Although superficial EMG has proven an important tool in assessing ventilatory patterns and the muscles involved in this process, this method remains controversial. The electromyographic signal can easily be contaminated by non-physiological signals, the electrical activity of the heart and adjacent muscles signals in a phenomenon known as cross-talk (Sinderby et al., 1996). Dr. Hutter et al. correctly emphasized this phenomenon.