BIOPAC® Systems, Inc. Logo

250 – Assess Muscle Effort with Vibromyography

The ability to noninvasively assess voluntary muscle effort has wide application in physiologic studies, sports and rehabilitation medicine, as well as movement science. Traditionally, surface electromyography (sEMG) has been used for such assessments, but sEMG has several significant limitations arising from the fact that an estimate of muscle mechanical effort is being obtained from an electrical potential measurement made at the skin surface. As a result, it can be difficult to compare recordings from different muscles on the same person, on the same muscle over a period of days or weeks, or between the same muscle on different individuals. In addition, muscle fatigue studies are difficult as EMG activity tends to increase with increasing fiber recruitment, even though muscle effort is decreasing.

To overcome the limitations associated with using sEMG recordings to evaluate muscle effort, an increasing number of investigators have come to rely upon vibromyography (VMG), or the recording of muscle fiber vibrations, to estimate muscle effort levels. The development of microelectromechanical (MEMS) accelerometers has contributed greatly to this transition as extremely sensitive, very low noise sensors are now available at reasonable cost.

Associated Applications

Spotlight On
free BIOPAC webinar

Bioimpedance and Cardiac Output with TREV—a User-friendly, Noninvasive Technique

Learn a technique—Trans-radial Electrical Bioimpedance Velocimetry (TREV)—that is more user-friendly and less invasive than the transthoracic method. TREV measures blood movement in the radial and ulnar arteries of the forearm via bioimpedance.
Topics Covered:
– Presentation and discussion of TREV
– Derived Indices Relevant to TREV
– Hardware setup
– Participant setup
– Recognizing good quality and bad quality data
– Demonstration with the grip anticipation test
– Review of results from other tests

Watch On Demand

Register Now
Latest News

New Citations | BIOPAC in Exercise Physiology

Exercise physiology is the study of the body’s response to physical activity. Research in exercise physiology allows for insights in health and for a better understanding of the functions of the body at work. Here are some recent studies in exercise physiology that utilized BIOPAC tools for their research… Effect of exercise on electrocardiographic parameters […]

Electrocardiography Guide Available

BIOPAC’s comprehensive Introductory ECG Guide addresses fundamental to advanced concerns to optimize electrocardiography data recording and analysis. Topics include: ECG Complex; Electrical and Mechanical Sequence of a Heartbeat; Systole and Diastole; Configurations for Lead I, Lead II, Lead III, 6-lead ECG, 12-lead ECG, precordial leads; Ventricular Late Potentials (VLPs); ECG Measurement Tools; Automated Analysis Routines for extracting, […]

Read All
Request a Demonstration
Request a Demonstration