ANALYSIS OF INDUCED ISOMETRIC FATIGUING CONTRACTIONS IN BICEPS BRACHII MUSCLES USING MYOTONOMETRY AND SURFACE ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENTS

Viscoelastic properties of skeletal muscle tissue are known to be impacted by fatiguing contractions. In this study, an attempt has been made to utilize myotonometry for analyzing the relationship between muscle viscoelasticity and contractile behaviors in a fatiguing task. For this purpose, thirteen young healthy volunteers are recruited to perform the fatiguing isometric task and the time to task failure (TTF) is recorded. Myotonometric parameters and simultaneous surface electromyographic (sEMG) signals are recorded from the Biceps Brachii muscle of the flexed arm. The correlation between myotonometric parameters and TTF is further analyzed. Cross-validation with sEMG features is also performed. Stiffness of muscle has a positive correlation with TTF in the left hand (p < 0.05). Damping property of the nonfatigued muscle is positively associated with the fatigue-induced changes in amplitude features of sEMG signal in the right hand (p < 0.05). The normalized rate of change of mean frequency of sEMG signal has a positive correlation with stiffness values in both of the hands (p < 0.05). Muscle viscoelasticity is demonstrated to influence the progression of fatigue, although the difference in motor control due to handedness is also found to be an important factor. The results are promising to improve the understanding of the effect of muscle mechanics in fatigue-induced task failure.