Effect of recording electrode position along a muscle fibre on surface potential power spectrum

Extracellular action potentials produced by a muscle fibre of finite length were calculated for recordings at the skin surface. The sensitivity of power spectra to variations in propagation velocity (ν) and intracellular action potential (IAP) duration (T(in)) was studied theoretically. The magnitude and distribution of the spectral power of muscle fibre potentials depend on the electrode longitudinal position. The relative shifts of the spectra in dB induced by variation in ν or T(in) hardly depend on the longitudinal position of the electrode. A variation in ν affects only the power spectrum positive slope and the initial part of the high-frequency roll-off and a variation in T(in) affects only the remaining part of the high-frequency roll-off. The total spectral amplitude is practically non-sensitive to variations in the wavelength, b = ν.T(in). The total power is sensitive to variations in ν, T(in) as well as in b, and its relative changes depend on the electrode longitudinal position. The whole power spectrum is shifted along the frequency axis and mode (F(max)), median (F(med)) and mean (F(mean)) frequencies have practically equal percentage changes only when ν and T(in) vary jointly in such a way that the product ν.T(in) keeps unchanged.