Quantitative analysis of surface EMG for pediatric neuromuscular disorders

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24790900
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Neurology
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital and Institute of Gerontology (2013-2015); National Defense Medical College (2012)
• Principal Investigator: Higashihara Mana 地方独立行政法人東京都健康長寿医療センター(東京都健康長寿医療センター研究所), 東京都健康長寿医療センター研究所, 研究員 (20622476)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: Clustering Index法 / 小児 / 神経筋疾患 / 表面筋電図 / 筋ジストロフィー / 脊髄性筋萎縮症

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Needle EMG is invaluable for diagnosis of pediatric neuromuscular disorders, although the procedure is too painful for children. We investigated the utility of Clustering Index (CI) method in the diagnosis of pediatric neuromuscular disorders. Subjects were 39 children with neuromuscular disorders (15 neurogenic and 24 myopathic patients). SEMG signals of 1-second length from the tibialis anterior muscle were recorded and used as an epoch. Typically, 20 to 50 epochs were collected from each subject.
Totally, 836 epochs from neurogenic patients and 992 epochs from myopathic patients were analysed. 7 of 15 neurogenic and 14 of 24 myopathic patients were correctly diagnosed as neurogenic or myopathic with 100% specificity. Especially, 4 out of 7 SMA patients and 9 out of 12 Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients were correctly diagnosed. In conclusion, the CI method is a non-invasive and promising tool for differential diagnosis between neurogenic and myopathic conditions in children.

Free Research Field

神経内科学