New technologies are finding their way into physiotherapists' practices, alongside conventional equipment. Such is the case with electromyography (EMG), but it is sometimes difficult to know how to integrate it into daily use.
Elementary, but innovative! To become part of everyday use, a tool has to be simple, fast...and innovative. Physiotherapists often have to use their deductive skills. By listening to their patient's story, they look for clues: compensation, causes and consequences... Professionals become detectives of movement and, where Sherlock Holmes has his magnifying glass and pipe, they also have their tools.
Evaluating the quality of a movement
When your patient performs a movement, how can you be sure he or she is doing it right? How do you check that on a squat, your patient isn't relying solely on his or her glutes and is actually engaging his or her quadriceps? There's only one way to check, apart from feel and palpation. You have to look at the origin of the movement: the neuromuscular signal.
EMG can be used to assess the quality of a movement. By looking at the activity of one or more muscles, we can track the data over time and thus measure progress. It is even possible to quantify co-contraction or compensation phenomena. Let's take the case of post ACL AMI: we'll quantify the motor inhibition of the quadriceps. But if there's a knee extension deficit, then we'll need to quantify the reflex contracture of the hamstrings.
Treating pathology
This whole deduction process is a bit like solving an equation. Once the answer has been found, we move on to the objective of muscular activation or inhibition (depending on the muscle). Biofeedback (or rather, myofeedback with EMG) takes on its full importance here. The physiotherapist will use it to work on voluntary activation or inhibition of different movements. Still using the example of post ACL AMI, we set a target for activation of the quadriceps and another for inhibition of the hamstring.
EMG offers the option of watching patients' body responses and adjustments in real time. Different formats can help physiotherapists and patients to understand and observe progress throughout rehabilitation.
The different biofeedback formats :
- Graphics: curves and activation thresholds to reach
- Auditory: sounds attributed to different factors
- Haptics: vibrations felt directly by the patient
- Gamified: games that combine rehabilitation and entertainment (internal or external link)
EMG as an empowerment tool: Myodev's objective
First and foremost, physiotherapists are faced with a lack of time. Every day, they juggle a complex schedule. Once their investigation leads their patients to a rehabilitation program, the EMG enables them to encourage their autonomy.
It's all about involving the patient in his or her rehabilitation and making him or her more responsible. The EMG can be a real assistant for physiotherapists and, at the same time, a guide for patients, through graphics or the gamified solution offered by Myotrack.
Physiotherapy involves deductions based on experience and available tools. While some people make do with classic equipment (elastics, weights...), new alternatives are being added to complete the rehabilitation follow-up. Sherlock has his Watson where physiotherapists have their Myotrack.