Development of method for the quantification of muscular activities during daily life and its application

2002 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 13558002
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 展開研究
• Research Field: 体育学
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: KANEHISA Hiroaki The Unversity of Tokyo, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Assistant professor, 大学院・総合文化研究科, 助教授 (50161188)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KUBO Keitaro The university of Toyko, Graduate School of Art and Scinces, Assistant, 大学院・総合文化研究科, 助手 (70323459) ; KOUZUKI Motoki The university of Toyko, Graduate School of Art and Scinces, Assistant, 大学院・総合文化研究科, 助手 (30313167) ; MASANI Kei The university of Toyko, Graduate School of Art and Scinces, Assistant, 大学院・総合文化研究科, 助手 (30282510)
• Project Period (FY): 2001 – 2002
• Keywords: EMG / long term recording / MVC / muscular activity / daily life / lower lime muscles / upper limb muscles / muscle atrophy

Research Abstract

This study aimed to develop a method for quantifying muscular activities during daily life and investigate its practical application. In this study, firstly, the validity and reliability of a portable EMG devise for long-term electromyogram (EMG) recording during daily life were examined The EMG data obtained using the devise linearly related to the level of force production in different joint movements, and provided stable values during a recording period of 7 hours. By the use of the devise, secondly, we investigated the differences between the upper and lower limb muscles (Exp.1) and among lower limb muscles (Exp.2) in the intensity and duration of muscular activities during daily life. In the results of the Exp.l, the total count of active phase tended to be higher in the upper limb than in the lower limb muscles On the other hand, the percentage of the integrated EMG per the period of active phase to that in MVC (%mEMGmax) was higher in the lower limb compared to the upper limb muscles. In the results of Exp.2, there were differences between muscles located in the thigh and lower leg and between their constituents in the average values of the active time and %mEMGmax. Among the muscles examined, the soleus muscle showed higher values than the other muscles in the two parameters. Thus, the present results indicated that using a portable EMG devise was useful to analyzes the muscular activities during daily life and could provide practical data for investigating the differences between muscles in atrophic changes induced by inactivity and/or aging.