Electromyography (EMG)

Abstract

Electrical potentials evoked during voluntary muscular contraction were observed long before the biochemical function of muscular force generation was explored (Matteucci, 1844; Piper, 1912). Despite the simplicity of voltage-measuring electrodes attached to the surface of the skin, it required advanced semiconductor technology to reveal significant information from the complex and noisy electrode signal. During the last few decades, more sophisticated electronic instrumentation and more powerful analysis methods permitted the use of EMG in various areas of research.