EMG and Grip Force correlation at varying wrist angles for Dominant vs. non-dominant hand

Abstract

Attempt has been made to analyze the EMG signals at various wrist angles with the maximum clench of the 16 individuals of two motions, adduction-abduction, and flexion-extension. Signals are recorded from four forearm muscles viz. flexor carpi radialis, flexor digitorum superficialis, extensor carpi ulnaris, and extensor digitorum communis. After pre-processing, the signal is converted into segments of one-second epochs for each successive clench of maximum amplitude. Features such as mean frequency, mean amplitude, RMS and Median frequency are extracted from EMG, and the wrist angle and grip force is used for further analysis. The results of Pearson correlation analysis indicate that for the non-dominant hand, the wrist angle has the high positive correlation with mean amplitude and RMS. Moreover, for flexion-extension, the correlation of wrist angle with mean frequency, RMS, and median frequency is high but not always positive. Also, analysis of grip force with the mean amplitude and RMS show high positive correlation for the dominant hand. This method of analyzing surface EMG can also be used to evaluate muscles clinically.