Abstract: The reliability of surface electromyography (sEMG) has not been adequately demonstrated in the equine literature and is an essential consideration as a methodology for application in clinical gait analysis. This observational study investigated within-session, intra-subject (stride-to-stride) and inter-subject reliability, and between-session reliability of normalised sEMG activity profiles, from triceps brachii (triceps), latissimus dorsi (latissimus), longissimus dorsi (longissimus), biceps femoris (biceps), superficial gluteal (gluteal) and semitendinosus muscles in n = 8 clinically non-lame horses during in-hand trot. sEMG sensors were bilaterally located on muscles to collect data during two test sessions (session 1 and 2) with a minimum 24-hour interval. Raw sEMG signals from ten trot strides per horse and session were DC-offset removed, high-pass filtered (40 Hz), full-wave rectified, and low-pass filtered (25 Hz). Signals were normalised to peak amplitude and percent stride before calculating intra- and inter-subject ensemble average sEMG profiles across strides for each muscle and session. sEMG profiles were assessed using waveform similarity statistics: the coefficient of variation (CV) to assess intra- and inter-subject reliability and the adjusted coefficient of multiple correlation (CMC) to evaluate between-session reliability. Across muscles, CV data revealed that intra-horse sEMG profiles within- and between-sessions were comparatively more reliable than inter-horse profiles. Bilateral gluteal, semitendinosus, triceps and longissimus (at T14 and L1) and right biceps showed excellent between-session reliability with group-averaged CMCs > 0.90 (range 0.90-0.97). Bilateral latissimus and left biceps showed good between-session reliability with group-averaged CMCs > 0.75 (range 0.78-0.88). sEMG profiles can reliably describe fundamental muscle activity patterns for selected equine muscles within a test session for individual horses (intra-subject). However, these profiles are more variable across horses (inter-subject) and between sessions (between-session reliability), suggesting that it is reasonable to use sEMG to objectively monitor the intra-individual activity of these muscles across multiple gait evaluation sessions at in-hand trot.
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The research study evaluates the reliability of the surface electromyographic (sEMG) method when used to measure muscular activities in horses during trotting. The outcome demonstrates that sEMG can provide consistent measurements within the same session for individual horses but shows variability across different horses and sessions.
Research methodology
The study examined eight horses which were not clinically lame.
sEMG sensors were placed on the horses to gather data during trotting over two different sessions separated by at least 24 hours.
The raw sEMG signals from ten trot strides for each horse and session were normalized to peak amplitude and percent stride.
Strides were examined through two statistical measures – coefficient of variation (CV) for assessing the reliability of the measurements within and between horses, and the adjusted coefficient of multiple correlation (CMC) for evaluating the reliability between sessions.
Findings
CV data indicated that within and between sessions, the recordings for an individual horse were more reliable than between different horses.
Certain muscles (bilateral gluteal, semitendinosus, triceps, longissimus, and right biceps) showed excellent reliability between the two sessions, with group-averaged CMCs > 0.90.
Two other muscles (bilateral latissimus and left biceps) displayed good reliability between sessions, with group-averaged CMCs > 0.75.
Implications
The findings suggest sEMG is a reliable tool for analyzing muscular activities within individual horses over different sessions.
However, due to variations in measurements between different horses, the methodology may not be as reliable for making comparisons across different horses.
Cite This Article
APA
St George L, Spoormakers TJP, Roy SH, Hobbs SJ, Clayton HM, Richards J, Serra Bragança FM.
(2023).
Reliability of surface electromyographic (sEMG) measures of equine axial and appendicular muscles during overground trot.
PLoS One, 18(7), e0288664.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288664
Centre for Applied Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
Spoormakers, T J P
Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Roy, S H
Delsys/Altec Inc., Natick, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Hobbs, S J
Centre for Applied Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
Clayton, H M
Sport Horse Science, Mason, Michigan, United States of America.
Richards, J
Allied Health Research Unit, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, Lancashire, United Kingdom.
Serra Bragança, F M
Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
MeSH Terms
Horses
Animals
Reproducibility of Results
Muscle, Skeletal / physiology
Electromyography / methods
Conflict of Interest Statement
I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: author SR is employed by Delsys Inc., the manufacturers of the sEMG sensors used in this study. The remaining authors declare that no competing interests exist. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.
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