Re-Evaluating Electromyogram-Force Relation in Healthy Biceps Brachii Muscles Using Complexity Measures

The objective of this study is to re-evaluate the relation between surface electromyogram (EMG) and muscle contraction torque in biceps brachii (BB) muscles of healthy subjects using two different complexity measures. Ten healthy subjects were recruited and asked to complete a series of elbow flexion tasks following different isometric muscle contraction levels ranging from 10% to 80% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) with each increment of 10%. Meanwhile, both the elbow flexion torque and surface EMG data from the muscle were recorded. The root mean square (RMS), sample entropy (SampEn) and fuzzy entropy (FuzzyEn) of corresponding EMG data were analyzed for each contraction level, and the relation between EMG and muscle torque was accordingly quantified. The experimental results showed a nonlinear relation between the traditional RMS amplitude of EMG and the muscle torque. By contrast, the FuzzyEn of EMG exhibited an improved linear correlation with the muscle torque than the RMS amplitude of EMG, which indicates its great value in estimating BB muscle strength in a simple and straightforward manner. In addition, the SampEn of EMG was found to be insensitive to the varying muscle torques, almost presenting a flat trend with the increment of muscle force. Such a character of the SampEn implied its potential application as a promising surface EMG biomarker for examining neuromuscular changes while overcoming interference from muscle strength.