Enhanced rehabilitation after total joint replacement using a wearable high-density surface electromyography system

Area of Science:

• Orthopedic Surgery
• Rehabilitation Science
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Neuromuscular recovery after joint replacement is poorly understood.
• Current assessment tools lack detailed resolution for monitoring recovery.
• High-Density surface Electromyography (HD-sEMG) offers potential for detailed muscle activation analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a methodological framework for using wearable HD-sEMG in orthopedic rehabilitation.
• To monitor neuromuscular recovery in patients undergoing total knee or hip arthroplasty.
• To develop functional indices for assessing muscle performance during recovery.

Main Methods:

• Applied a wearable 64-channel HD-sEMG system in patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty.
• Recorded HD-sEMG during standardized exercises at pre- and postoperative time points.
• Developed a custom signal processing pipeline including artifact suppression, dimensionality reduction, and feature extraction.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated the feasibility of the HD-sEMG approach in a clinical setting.
• Derived five functional indices showing distinct patient-specific recovery dynamics.
• Functional indices aligned with patient-reported outcomes and differentiated recovery patterns.

Conclusions:

• Established a structured framework for longitudinal HD-sEMG research in orthopedic rehabilitation.
• The proposed framework provides tools for investigating neuromuscular recovery trajectories.
• Potential to contribute to personalized, data-driven rehabilitation strategies.