Muscle activity characterization by laser Doppler Myography

Electromiography (EMG) is the gold-standard technique used for the evaluation of muscle activity. This technique is used in biomechanics, sport medicine, neurology and rehabilitation therapy and it provides the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. Among the parameters measured with EMG, two very important quantities are: signal amplitude and duration of muscle contraction, muscle fatigue and maximum muscle power. Recently, a new measurement procedure, named Laser Doppler Myography (LDMi), for the non contact assessment of muscle activity has been proposed to measure the vibro-mechanical behaviour of the muscle. The aim of this study is to present the LDMi technique and to evaluate its capacity to measure some characteristic features proper of the muscle. In this paper LDMi is compared with standard superficial EMG (sEMG) requiring the application of sensors on the skin of each patient. sEMG and LDMi signals have been simultaneously acquired and processed to test correlations. Three parameters has been analyzed to compare these techniques: Muscle activation timing, signal amplitude and muscle fatigue. LDMi appears to be a reliable and promising measurement technique allowing the measurements without contact with the patient skin.