Comparisons between surface electrodes and intramuscular wire electrodes in isometric and dynamic conditions.

The purpose of this study was to compare EMG surface electrodes (SE) and intramuscular wire electrodes (IWE) for isometric and dynamic contractions during an occupational cervico-brachial working task (OCWT). Six normal adult male subjects were tested on two days (two conditions with three trials each). Raw EMG signals from middle deltoid, anterior deltoid and trapezius muscles were recorded by both IWE and SE for two conditions (isometric and dynamic contractions). Full wave rectified and low pass filtered EMG, and integrated EMG were processed from raw EMG signals. The statistical analysis performed on the integrated EMG was a factorial analysis model with repeated measures. Statistical results confirmed that EMG signals, from both SE and IWE, are reliable between trials on the same day. These statistical results also confirmed that SE are more reliable than IWE on day-to-day investigations. Both electrodes recorded statistically similar signals, although the coefficient of variability between electrodes was very high (STDE%; 48% and 84%, for isometric and dynamic conditions respectively).