Department of Biomedical Engineering

BME-310L – Biomedical Instrumentation 1

Semester: 5th (Fall 2023)

Lab Instructor: Engr. Abdul Hanna Taqi
Session: Fall, 2021
Teaching Assistant: Miss Sawera Shehzadi
Date:

LAB 5: To record maximum clench strength for right and left

hands and correlate motor unit recruitment with increase
skeletal force.

Name Reg. No. Marks

2021 – BME –
30
5.1 Objective:
• Record surface EMGs.
• Measure the decline in maximal force during a sustained contraction.
• Factors that may contribute to muscle fatigue.
5.2 Theory:
Electromyography is a technique that measures the electrical activity of muscles. The data recorded is
an electromyogram; also known as an "EMG" or "myogram".
5.3 Equipment and sensors
The equipment required for these exercises is:
• A computer system
• Chart software
• Power Lab (with built-in Bio Amp or Power Lab and Bio Amp front-end)
• Five-lead Shielded Bio Amp Cable & snap-connect Lead Wires
• Disposable adhesive electrodes
• Electrode cream (for use with the clamp electrodes)
• Ballpoint pen
• Abrasive pads/gel
• Grip force transducer

5.4 Exercise
5.4.1 Exercise 1: Recording of EMG
Setup and calibration of equipment
1. Remove any jewelry from the volunteer's wrists.
2. Connect the Bio Amp cable to the Bio Amp socket on the PowerLab.
3. Connect the five color-coded shielded cables to the Bio Amp cable.
4. Make sure the PowerLab is connected to the computer and turned on.
5. Attach the green shielded cable to the dry earth strap. (If the dry earth strap has a single connector
cable, see how to connect it to the Bio Amp cable.)
6. Firmly attach the dry earth strap around the volunteer's wrist. The fuzzy side of the dry earth strap
needs to make full contact with the skin.
7. Lightly mark two small crosses on the skin overlying the volunteer's biceps muscle, and two crosses
over the triceps muscle. The crosses should be 2–5 cm apart and aligned with the long axis of the
arm. And apply the following settings.

Sampling rate: 20/sec

View compression: 2:1
Channel settings: One channel displayed, Channel 1
Channel 1: Title: ‘Grip’

Input Amplifier dialog box: Range 20 mV

Low Pass 10 Hz
Positive checkbox: checked
Negative checkbox: checked
Electrodes attachment
1. Lightly abrade the skin over the crosses with abrasive gel, then clean with an alcohol swab.
2. Snap the CH1 and CH2 shielded cables onto the disposable ECG electrodes.
3. Place the CH1 electrodes over the crosses on the volunteer's biceps, and the CH2 electrodes
over the crosses on the volunteer's triceps. Press firmly so they adhere well. It doesn't matter
which is positive and which is negative.
4. Check that all 4 electrodes and the dry earth strap are properly connected to the volunteer
and the Bio Amp cable before proceeding.

Figure 5.1 Equipment setup for this experiment.

Procedure
Part 1
1. Ask the volunteer to sit in a relaxed position with an elbow bent to 90°, and the palm facing
upwards. The volunteer should use his or her other hand to grasp the wrist of the arm from which
the signal is being recorded.
2. Select Start to record. Enter "biceps contraction" into the Comment panel, then select Add. Ask
the volunteer to moderately contract the biceps muscle for 3–5 s by trying to bend the arm while
resisting this movement with the hand grasping the wrist.
3. Ask the volunteer to relax for a few seconds.
4. Prepare the comment: "triceps contraction", then select Add. Ask the volunteer to moderately
contract the triceps muscle for 3–5 s by trying to straighten out the arm while resisting this
movement with the hand grasping the wrist.
5. Ask the volunteer to relax for a few seconds.
6. Repeat steps 1–5, but this time make a maximal contraction of the biceps and then the triceps
muscles.
7. Select Stop.
 Figure 5.2: Biceps and triceps contraction and relaxation.

Part 2
1. Ask the volunteer to sit in a relaxed position as before, (ensure their arm is not resting on
anything). Select Start to record.
2. After 3–5 s, prepare the comment: "1 book" and then select Add. Place a book on the volunteer's
hand and ask them to remain as still as possible. Record for 2–3 s and select stop
3. To record the effect of increasing weights, repeat steps 2–5 and increase the number of books by
1 each time until you reach 4 books. Add a comment for each book addition.

Figure 5.3: Effect on biceps and triceps contraction by increasing weight.

5.4.2 Exercise 2: Grip force measurement
Objective
In this part of the laboratory you will calibrate the grip force transducer with respect to a volunteer’s
maximal grip strength.

Setup
1. Ensure the PowerLab is connected to your computer and turned on.
2. Remove the Bio Amp cable from your PowerLab.
3. Connect the grip force transducer to Input 1 of the PowerLab, as shown in the image.

Figure 5.4 Equipment setup for this experiment.

Procedure
➢ Maximum Contraction
1. Select Start to record, leaving the grip force transducer undisturbed on the table for 5 s.
2. Next, ask the volunteer to squeeze the grip force transducer as hard as possible, for as long as
possible. You may need to select Auto Scale to view the signal.
3. Enter "calibration" into the comment panel, then select Add.
4. After 5 s, tell the volunteer to relax and select Stop.
➢ Calibration
1. Use the region selector to highlight a region of baseline data for zero force.
2. Select the small arrow next to Value 1 in the Units Calibration panel to enter this value.
3. Type "0" into its corresponding percentage value.
4. Next, select an area of maximal grip force. Select the small arrow next to Value 2 in the Units
Calibration panel to enter this value.
5. Type "100" into the corresponding percentage value.
6. Select Calibrate. The Grip Force units should now change to %. The calibration is now complete.
 Figure 5.5 Selection of trace for calibrating to relative grip strength.

5.4.3 Exercise 3: Muscle fatigue

Objectives
In this part of the experiment, you will observe the decline in maximal force during a sustained
contraction, and to examine some properties of muscular fatigue.

Procedure
1. Select Start to record. Ask the volunteer to apply and maintain 25% of their maximal grip strength
while watching the recorded trace. Enter "25%" in the Comment panel and select Add.
2. After 25 s, tell the volunteer to relax and select Stop.
3. Wait for 30 s to allow recovery of muscle function.
4. Repeat steps 1–3 for contractions of 50%, 75%, and 100% of maximal grip strength. Add a
comment for each trial.
Analysis
In this analysis you will determine how fatigue affects grip force at different intensities.

1. Scroll to your 25% grip force data.

2. Place the Marker on the baseline just before the increase in force. Place the point selector at
1 s into the contraction. The change in grip force (∆ Grip Force) will be displayed in the value
panel.
3. Enter this value into the appropriate cell in the table below.
4. Repeat steps 2–3 for 5 s, 10 s, and 20 s into the contraction.
5. Repeat steps 2–4 for 50%, 75%, and 100% grip force
 Figure 5.6 Fatigue affects grip force at different intensities.

5.4.4 Exercise 4: Verbal Encouragement

Objective
In this analysis you will determine how visual feedback affects sustained maximal grip force.

Visual feedback
1. Scroll to your visual feedback data.
2. Place the Marker near the beginning of the contraction when it has reached 50%. Place the point
selector directly before the "eyes closed" comment. The change in grip force will be displayed in
the value panel.
3. Enter the value into the appropriate cell in the table below.

Without Visual feedback

1. Place the Marker just after the "eyes closed" comment. Place the point selector just before the
"eyes open" comment. The change in grip force will be displayed in the value panel.
2. Enter the value into the appropriate cell in the table below. A graph will be generated for you.

Figure 5.7 Effects of visual feedback on sustained maximal grip force.

 Figure 5.8: Muscle fatigue.

5.5 Observation
5.5.1 Analysis of exercise 1
Table 5.1 Biceps and triceps contraction

Number of books RMS Biceps amplitude RMS Triceps Amplitude

(mV) (mV)

5.5.2 Analysis of exercise 3

Table 5.2: Fatigue affects grip force at different intensities

Time (s) Effort 25% Effort 50% Effort 75% Effort 100%

10

20
5.5.3 Analysis of exercise 4
Table 5.2 Effects of visual feedback on sustained maximal grip force

4.6 Observation

1. What is muscle fatigue?

2. What did you learn from this experiment? Briefly describe the techniques you have used to
study muscle fatigue.

3. Do your experiments help to decide which factors are important?

4. How long did it take for your hand muscles to fatigue? Explain one mechanism that could
cause muscle fatigue.

Note
➢ Draw the graph by using the analysis of exercise 1, 3 and 4.
➢ Must label the title and axes.
➢ Must attach the pictures of all recording of your experiments as well.