Electromyography Analysis

During lab on Tuesday October 20, we experimented with the electromyography. An electromyography, or EMG, is a diagnostic procedure to assess the health of muscles and the nerve cells that control them (Mayo Clinic). An EMG uses tiny devices called electrodes to transmit or detect electrical signals. EMG results can reveal nerve dysfunction, muscle dysfunction or problems with nerve to muscle signal transmissions. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the introduction of the EMG was in 1950. EMG signals were recorded but analysis was still done on paper. The first digital systems were introduced in 1982. An EMG is often performed when patients have unexplained muscle weakness (MedicineNet). The medical process uses needle insertions; in class, we only used an EMG cable …show more content…
To begin this process, we placed electrodes on 3 parts of our dominant forearm. We then began clenching; this happened four times, with each clench being stronger than the previous one. On the last clench, we clenched the hand dynamometer as tight and as long as possible in order to fatigue the muscles. We repeated this step for the dominant and non-dominant arm. We recorded all of this information, which is shown in table 1. In the second activity, one member of our group was wired up with the EMG cable and electrodes. One pair of recording electrodes was placed over the Pronator teres muscle on the anterior part of the forearm. A second pair of electrodes was placed over the Biceps brachii on the upper arm. Another electrode was placed on the abdomen. First a simulated recording was done: person was losing, no activity was done then person was winning. The actual arm-wrestling happened after this and again, the information was recorded. Each group in our class followed this procedure. We then took the absolute area average and time as shown in table