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Updated: Jan 3, 2026
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Extraction of the EPP Component from the Surface EMG
Published on: December 16, 2009
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Preprocessing surface EMG data removes voluntary muscle activity and enhances SPiQE fasciculation analysis
J Bashford1, A Wickham2, R Iniesta3
1UK Dementia Research Institute, Department of Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, Maurice Wohl Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK. Electronic address: https://spiqe.co.uk.
Summary
A new method, Active Voluntary IDentification (AVID), rapidly excludes voluntary muscle activity from high-density surface electromyography (HDSEMG) recordings. This facilitates accurate fasciculation quantification in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Biomedical Engineering
- Electrophysiology
Background:
- Fasciculations are a key indicator of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
- High-density surface electromyography (HDSEMG) with the Surface Potential Quantification Engine (SPiQE) can identify fasciculation potentials.
- Manual exclusion of voluntary muscle activity from HDSEMG recordings is time-consuming.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a rapid method for excluding voluntary muscle activity from HDSEMG recordings.
- To integrate this method into the existing SPiQE pipeline for fasciculation analysis.
- To enable accurate and efficient fasciculation quantification in ALS.
Main Methods:
- Developed and compared four Active Voluntary IDentification (AVID) strategies in MATLAB.
- Applied AVID to HDSEMG recordings from ALS patients and controls.
- Assessed the sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency of AVID in excluding voluntary potentials.
Main Results:
- Sensitive and specific screening strategies were developed to exclude voluntary potentials.
- Exclusion times ranged from 0.2 to 13.1 minutes, with processing times of 10.7 to 49.5 seconds.
- The median fasciculation frequency observed was 40.5 per minute.
Conclusions:
- Active Voluntary IDentification (AVID) provides a flexible and targeted approach to exclude voluntary muscle activity from HDSEMG.
- This method enhances the efficiency of fasciculation analysis in HDSEMG.
- Longitudinal fasciculation quantification in ALS may offer insights into motor neuron health.
