Estimation of the Range of Motor Units Firing Rates from EMG Signals using a Fourier-based Power Spectrum Technique

Armando Malanda, Ignacio Rodríguez, Luis Gila, Javier Navallas, Javier Rodríguez, Pierre A. Mathieu

2013

Abstract

A method for estimating the range of the motor units mean firing rates from electromyographic (EMG) recordings is presented. The method is based on classical Fourier spectral estimation techniques and is applied to the 0-50 Hz band of the EMG signal within which the mean MU firing rates are usually observed in sustained contractions. Extensive simulations were performed to account for the influence of different signal characteristics such as the firing rate range (FRR), the number of MUAP trains, the coefficient of variation of the motor unit inter-spike intervals (IPI)) and the noise levels. The number of simulated MUAP trains whose mean firing rate dwelled within the estimated range and the estimation error for the lower and upper extremes of the actual FRR were evaluated. While some peaks were undetected and some inaccuracies in the detected firing rate range were observed, satisfactory results were obtained, as for the vast majority of cases the estimated range corresponded to the actual FRR of the simulated MUAP trains.

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Paper Citation


in Harvard Style

Malanda A., Rodríguez I., Gila L., Navallas J., Rodríguez J. and Mathieu P. (2013). Estimation of the Range of Motor Units Firing Rates from EMG Signals using a Fourier-based Power Spectrum Technique . In Proceedings of the International Conference on Bio-inspired Systems and Signal Processing - Volume 1: BIOSIGNALS, (BIOSTEC 2013) ISBN 978-989-8565-36-5, pages 377-382. DOI: 10.5220/0004308003770382


in Bibtex Style

@conference{biosignals13,
author={Armando Malanda and Ignacio Rodríguez and Luis Gila and Javier Navallas and Javier Rodríguez and Pierre A. Mathieu},
title={Estimation of the Range of Motor Units Firing Rates from EMG Signals using a Fourier-based Power Spectrum Technique},
booktitle={Proceedings of the International Conference on Bio-inspired Systems and Signal Processing - Volume 1: BIOSIGNALS, (BIOSTEC 2013)},
year={2013},
pages={377-382},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0004308003770382},
isbn={978-989-8565-36-5},
}


in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the International Conference on Bio-inspired Systems and Signal Processing - Volume 1: BIOSIGNALS, (BIOSTEC 2013)
TI - Estimation of the Range of Motor Units Firing Rates from EMG Signals using a Fourier-based Power Spectrum Technique
SN - 978-989-8565-36-5
AU - Malanda A.
AU - Rodríguez I.
AU - Gila L.
AU - Navallas J.
AU - Rodríguez J.
AU - Mathieu P.
PY - 2013
SP - 377
EP - 382
DO - 10.5220/0004308003770382