Masseter and digastric muscle activity evaluation using a novel electromyogram that utilizes elastic sheet electrodes

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Neuroscience
• Kinesiology

Background:

• Accurate measurement of muscle activity is crucial for understanding mastication and swallowing.
• Conventional electromyogram (EMG) devices may have limitations in flexibility and comfort for these specific applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reproducibility and reliability of a novel electromyogram (EMG) device utilizing a flexible sheet sensor.
• To assess the device's capability in measuring muscle activity related to mastication and swallowing.

Main Methods:

• Developed a new EMG device with elastic sheet electrodes for masseter and digastric muscle activity measurement.
• Assessed measurement reproducibility using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).
• Evaluated reliability by comparing key parameters (maximum amplitude, duration, integrated value, SNR) with conventional EMG devices using ICC and Bland-Altman analysis.

Main Results:

• The new EMG device exhibited high reproducibility with ICC scores of 0.92 (ICC (1,1)) and 0.88 (ICC (2,1)).
• High correlations were observed when compared to active electrode EMG devices for maximum amplitude (0.90), duration (0.99), integrated values (0.90), and SNR (0.75), with no significant fixed or proportional errors.
• Comparisons with passive electrode EMG devices showed high correlations for maximum amplitude (0.73) and duration (0.89), although SNR showed a significant fixed error.

Conclusions:

• The novel flexible sheet sensor EMG device demonstrates high reliability and reproducibility.
• This new EMG device is suitable for evaluating muscle activity during mastication and swallowing functions.