Interrelationships between body fat and skin blood flow and the current required for electrical stimulation of human muscle.

There is variability between individuals in the current needed to elicit a contraction in human muscle with surface electrodes. To understand what might be causing some of this variability, 25 subjects whose average age was 24.4+/-2.3 years, whose height was 165.5+/-9.5 cm, and whose average weight was 70.3+/-21 kg were examined. Electrical stimulation was applied above the motor point of the quadriceps, biceps, and lateral gastrocnemius muscles. To assess body fat, 2D ultrasound was used with a 1cm stand off. Electrical stimulation was applied with sine wave stimulation at 100 micros pulse width and at a frequency of 30 Hz. To alter skin blood flow, aside from the natural difference in skin blood flow at rest, hot packs and cold packs were used for 5 min. The average fat thickness below the quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscles was 0.75+/-0.13 cm and under the biceps was 0.48+/-0.16 cm. Without the use of hot or cold packs, the currents for the quadriceps and gastrocnemius muscles were significantly higher than that of the biceps (p<0.01). While there was some relationship between stimulation current and blood flow without the application of hot or cold packs, when hot packs were applied, skin blood flow increased as did the current required to stimulate muscle to threshold. When cold packs were applied, there was a decrease in the current required to stimulate these muscles. In conclusion, there is a causal relationship between skin blood flow, the thickness of the fat layer below the skin, and the current required to stimulate the muscle.