The basic of

electromyography
Medical Faculty of Universitas Islam Bandung
ASR
 What is EMG?

• Eectromygraphy (EMG) is the study of muscle

function through analysis of alectrical signals
emenated during muscle contractions  is
measuring the electrical signal associated with
voluntary and involuntary activation of the muscle.
• The EMG activity of voluntary muscle contractions
is related to tension.
 What is EMG?
 Electromyography (EMG) is the recording and
interpretation of muscle action potentials.
 Electromyogram not only for exploratory or
diagnostic purposes but also become fundamental
tool in achieving artificial control movement:
functional electrical stimulation (FES) and
rehabilitation.
 Electromyographists read and interpreted the long
paper EMG record based on the visual appearance
of the electromyograms
 Motor Unit

• The functional unit of the muscle contraction is a

motor unit, which is comprised of a single alpha
motor neuron and all the fibers it enervates.
• Any portion of the muscle may contain fibers
belonging to as many as 20-50 motor units.
• This muscle fiber contracts when the action
potentials (impulse) of the motor nerve which
supplies it reaches a depolarization threshold.
Reinnervated motor unit
The Origin of Electromyograms

• Unlike the myocardium, skeletal muscles do not

contain pacemaker cells from which excitations
arise and spread.
• Electrical excitation of skeletal muscle is initiated
and regulated by the central and peripheral nervous
systems.
The Origin of Electromyograms

• Motor neurons carry nerve impulses from the

anterior horn cells of the spinal cord to the nerve
endings, where the axonal action potential triggers
the release of the neurotransmitter acetyl-choline
(Ach) into the narrow clefts separating the
sarcolemma from the axon terminals.
• As Ach binds to the sarcolemma, Ach-sensitive
sodium channels open, and miniature end-plate
potentials arise in the sarcolemma.
 Neuromuscular junction

Post synaptic
membrane
Ach

Na+ channel
(acetylcholine receptor)

Opened sodium
channel
The Origin of Electromyograms

• If sufficient Ach is released, the summation of

miniature end-plate potentials, i.e., the end-plate
potential, reaches the excitation threshold, and
sarcolemma action potentials propagate in opposite
directions toward the tendons.
• As excitation propagates down the fiber, it spreads
into a highly branched transverse network of tubules
(T system) which interpenetrate the myofibrils.
 T tube & Sarcoplasmic
Reticulum
Sarcoplasmic Reticulum

T tube
The Origin of Electromyograms

• The effective radial conduction velocity (~4 cm/s)

is about two orders of magnitude slower than the
longitudinal conduction velocity (2 to 5 m/s). This
is due to the fact that the main portion of the total
membrane capacitance is located in the T system
and that the lumen of the T system constitutes a
higher electrical resistance than the sarcolemma.
 Magnetic field

• The depolarization generates an electromagnetic

field and the potential is measured as a voltage.
• The depolarization, which spreads along the
membrane of the muscle, is a muscle action
potential.
 EMG is algebraic summation

• The motor unit action potential is the spatial and temporal

summation of the individual muscle action potentials for all
the fibers of a single motor unit.
• Therefore, the EMG signal is the algebraic summation
of the motor unit action potentials within the pick-up
area of the electrode being used.
• The pick-up area of an electrode will almost always include
more than one motor unit because muscle fibers of different
motor units are intermingled throughout the entire muscle.
Electromyography
tracings from human
biceps and triceps
muscles during
alternate flexion and
extension of the elbow.

Note the alternate activation and rest patterns as one

muscle is used for flexion and the other for
extension. Electrical activity of stimulated muscle
can be recorded extracellularly, yielding typical
excitation responses after stimulation.
Thank for your attention