Prospects of Mechanomyography (MMG) in Muscle Function Assessment during FES Evoked Contraction: A Review

Abstract

Significant number of research attempts are noticed lately on validation of efficacy of alternative paradigm for muscle function assessment such as MMG after exhaustive trials on voluntary and evoked EMG with limited clinical and experimental impacts. Enhanced performance of conventional FES application for the SCI patients remains elusive partly due to lack of precise prediction of muscle force and fatigue. Quantification of muscle performance by processing MMG parameters is increasingly reported due to availability of inexpensive, non-invasive and sensitive sensors. Substantially, analysis of isometric and dynamic muscle actions using MMG signal during FES evoked contractions are being documented. However, the literature base to holistically address the signal’s applications to assess muscle performance with highlights on experimental and clinical practices could benefit from further validation. Sequel to a systematic literature survey, it is evident that MMG possesses certain salient potentials and further exploration and evaluation studies is suggested especially during evoked dynamic muscle action to further optimize the performance of FES system.