Locomotor training in paraplegic patients: a new approach to assess changes in leg muscle EMG patterns

This study describes an amplitude independent assessment of changes in leg muscle EMG patterns in both complete and incomplete paraplegic patients during the course of locomotor training. The approach expresses the change as an approximation of the patients' gait EMG pattern compared with that of healthy subjects. The variation ratio (VR), coefficient of variation (CV) and Pearson's correlation coefficient (R), are used as measures of the dissimilarity/similarity of a set of wave forms. These parameters were evaluated for their ability to assess changes in the EMG pattern of the patients with respect to that of healthy subjects. The VR showed the best correlation to our data and was therefore considered to represent the optimum variable in the assessment of changes in EMG patterns.