Summary
The changes in the soundmyogram (SMG) and electromyogram (EMG) frequency content during exhausting contractions at 20070, 40%, 60070 and 80% of the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) were investigated by the spectral analysis of the SMG and EMG detected from the biceps brachii muscles of 13 healthy men The root mean squares (rms) of the two signals were also calculated. Throughout contraction the EMG rms always increased while this was true only at 20% MVC for the SMG. A marked decrease was detected at 60% and 80% MVC. With fatigue the EMG spectra presented a compression towards the lower frequencies at all exercise intensities. The SMG showed a more complex behaviour with a transient increase in its frequency content, followed by a continuous compression of the spectra, at 60% and 80% MVC, and a nearly stable frequency content at lower contraction intensities. This study suggested that different aspects of the changes in the motor unit's activation strategy at different levels of exhausting contractions can be monitored by SMG and EMG signals.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allum JHJ, Dietz V, Freund HJ (1978) Neuronal mechanisms underlying physiological tremor. J Neurophysiol 41:557–571
Barry DT, Geiringer SR, Ball RD (1985) Acoustic myography: a noninvasive monitor of motor unit fatigue. Muscle Nerve 8:189–194
Barry DT, Gordon KE, Hinton GG (1990) Acoustic and surface EMG diagnosis of pediatric muscle disease. Muscle Nerve 13:286–290
Basmajian JV, De Luca CJ (1985) Muscles alive. Their functions revealed by electromyography. In: Butler J (ed) Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore
Bigland-Ritchie B, Woods JJ (1984) Changes in muscle contractile properties and neural control during human muscular fatigue. Muscle Nerve 7:691–699
Bilodeau M, Arsenault AB, Gravel D, Bourbonnais D (1991) EMG power spectra of the elbow extensors during ramp and step isometric contractions. Eur J Appl Physiol 63:24–28
Box GEP, Jenkins GM (1970) Time series analysis. Holden Day, San Francisco, Cal.
Burg JP (1975) Maximum entropy spectral analysis. Thesis, Stanford University, Stanford, Cal.
Burke RE (1981) Motor units: anatomy, physiology and functional organization. In: Brooks VB (ed) Handbook of physiology, sect. I, vol. 2. The nervous system. Motor control, 1. American Physiological Society, Bethesda, pp 345–422
Diemont B, Maranzana Figini M, Orizio C, Perini R, Veicsteinas A (1988) Spectral analysis of muscular sound at low and high contraction level. Int J Biomed Comput 23:161–175
Enoka RM, Stuart DG (1985) The contribution of neuroscience to exercise studies. Fed Proc 44:2279–2285
Freund HJ (1983) Motor unit and muscle activity in voluntary motor control. Physiol Rev 63:387–436
Garnet D, Maton B (1989) The fatigability of two agonistic muscles in human isometric voluntary contraction: an EMG study, 1. Assessment of muscular fatigue by means of surface EMG. Eur J Appl Physiol 58:361–368
Goldenberg MS, Yack HJ, Cerny FJ, Burton HW (1991) Acoustic myography as an indicator of force during sustained contractions of small hand muscle. J Appl Physiol 70:87–91
Gordon G, Holbourn AHS (1948) The sounds from single motor units in a contracting muscle. J Physiol (Lond) 107:456–464
Gydikov A, Kosarov D (1974) Some features of different motor units in human biceps brachii. Pflügers Arch 347:75–88
Hayward L, Wesselmann U, Rymer WZ (1991) Effect of muscle fatigue on mechanically sensitive afferents of slow conduction velocity in cat triceps surae. J Neurophysiol 65:360–370
Helmholtz HLF (1864) Uèber den Muskelton. Monatsber Dtsch Akad Wiss Berlin 5:307–310
Homberg V, Reiners K, Hefter H, Freund HJ (1986) The muscle activity spectrum: spectral analysis of muscle force as an estimation of overall motor unit activity. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 63:209–222
Krogh-Lund C, Jorgensen K (1991) Changes in conduction velocity, median frequency, and root mean square-amplitude of the electromyogram during 25% maximal voluntary contraction of the triceps brachii muscle, to limit of endurance. Eur J Appl Physiol 63:60–69
Maton B, Garnet D (1989) The fatigability of two agonistic muscles in human isometric voluntary submaximal contraction: an EMG study, II. Motor unit firing rate and recruitment. Eur J Appl Physiol 58:369–374
Maton B, Petitjean M, Cnockaert JC (1990) Phonomyogram and electromyogram relationships with isometric force reinvestigated in man. Eur J Appl Physiol 60:194–201
Merletti R, Knaflitz M, De Luca CJ (1990) Myoelectric manifestations of fatigue in voluntary and electrically elicited contractions. J Appl Physiol 69:1810–1820
Moritani T, Muro M, Nagata A (1986) Intramuscular and surface electromyogram changes during muscle fatigue. J Appl Physiol 60:1179–1185
Orizio C, Perini R, Veicsteinas A (1989a) Muscular sound and force relationship during isometric contraction in man. Eur J Appl Physiol 58:528–533
Orizio C, Perini R, Veicsteinas A (1989b) Changes of muscular sound during sustained isometric contraction up to exhaustion. J Appl Physiol 66:1593–1598
Orizio C, Perini R, Diemont B, Maranzana Figini M, Veicsteinas A (1990) Spectral analysis of muscular sound during isometric contraction in man. J Appl Physiol 68:508–512
Oster G, Jaffe JS (1980) Low frequency sounds from sustained contraction of human skeletal muscle. Biophys J 30:119–128
Rhatigan BA, Mylrea KC, Lonsdale E, Stern LZ (1986) Investigation of sounds produced by healthy and diseased human muscular contraction. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 33:967–971
Sadoyama T, Masuda T, Miyano H (1983) Relationship between muscle fibre conduction velocity and frequency parameters of the surface EMG during sustained contraction. Eur J Appl Physiol 51:247–256
Seki K, Miyazaki Y, Watanabe M, Nagata A, Narusawa M (1991) Surface electromyogram spectral characterization and motor unit activity during voluntary ramp contraction in men. Eur J Appl Physiol 63:165–172
Solomonow M, Baten C, Smit J, Baratta R, Hermens R, D'Ambrosia R, Shoji H (1990) Electromyogram power spectra frequencies associated with motor unit recruitment strategies. J Appl Physiol 68:1177–1185
Stokes MJ, Dalton PA (1991) Acoustic myographic activity increases linearly up to maximal voluntary isometric force in the human quadriceps muscle. J Neurol Sci 101: 163–167
Stokes IAF, Moffroid MS, Rush S, Haugh LD (1988) Comparison of acoustic and electric signal from erectores spinae muscles. Muscle Nerve 2:331–336
Windhorst V, Christakos CN, Koehler W, Hamm TM, Enoka RM, Stuart DG (1986) Amplitude reduction of motor unit twitches during repetitive activation is accompanied by relative increase of iperpolarizing membrane potential trajectories in homonymous α-motoneurons. Brain Res 398:181–184
Winter DA (1990) Biomechanics and motor control of human movement. Wiley, New York
Wollaston WH (1810) On the duration of muscle action. Philos Trans R Soc Lond [Biol] 1–5
Zwarts MJ, Keidel M (1991) Relationship between electrical and vibratory output of muscle during voluntary contraction and fatigue. Muscle Nerve 14:756–761
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Orizio, C., Perini, R., Diemont, B. et al. Muscle sound and electromyogram spectrum analysis during exhausting contractions in man. Europ. J. Appl. Physiol. 65, 1–7 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01466266
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01466266