Real-time electromyography feedback to change muscle activity during complex movements

Abstract

A training method is provided to train changing muscle contribution in a human subject while the human subject is performing a complex movement. Feedback is provided in a simple understandable fashion by one or more data points calculated based on electromyography signals obtained over e.g. a stance phase of a walking cycle. The training method showed a significantly increased training effect in subjects performing these complex movements where these subjects were able to change the muscle activation given a specific goal. The training could be setup of a single muscle or multiple muscles. The data point feedback could be a measure for the single muscle or some relative measure for the multiple muscles. The training method results in improved coordination strategies and could be useful for retraining purposes as well as intervention methods for musculoskeletal pathologies or movement disorders.