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Applied Sciences
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Human Biomechanics and EMG Signal Processing
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Human Biomechanics and EMG Signal Processing

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Applied Biosciences and Bioengineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 July 2025 | Viewed by 3324

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andrea Tigrini

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Guest Editor
Deparment of Information Engineering, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche 12, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Interests: human biomechanics; neuromuscular control and rehabilitation engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Francesca Lunardini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Clinical Neuroscience HLM, Hospital Los Madroños, 28690 Brunete, Spain
Interests: movement disorders; e-Health technology; technology-based patient assessment
Dr. Jesús Tornero

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center for Clinical Neuroscience HLM, Hospital Los Madroños, 28690 Brunete, Spain
Interests: robotics applied to rehabilitation; virtual reality; neurological therapy
Dr. Alessandro Mengarelli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Deparment of Information Engineering, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche 12, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Interests: motion analysis; movement biomechanics; biosignal processing and modeling; control of biomechanical systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Federica Verdini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Information Engineering, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Interests: biomechanics; movement analysis; advanced signal processing; biomechanical modeling and control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Human biomechanics represent a well-established research field, in which medical and engineering expertise join forces to reach an enhanced comprehension of the human movement genesis. In this field, muscle activity plays a crucial role. On the one hand, the coordinated activation of muscles is the basis for human motion generation; on the other hand, impaired muscle activation leads to poor movement performance and disability.

Against this background, information regarding the subject's individual muscular activation is of high relevance, and electromyography (EMG) allows the pain-free assessment of muscle activity. EMG analysis, together with typical kinematics and kinetics data acquired through stereophotogrammetry, inertial measurement units, and force plates, provide valuable insights for understanding neuromuscular control strategies during specific motor tasks.

Thus, this Special Issue aims to bring together cutting-edge research at the intersection of human biomechanics and EMG signal processing for enhancing the understanding of how muscles interact to generate movement, how neural control strategies influence movement performance, and how biomechanical and EMG data can be utilized to improve health, rehabilitation, and human–machine interactions. We invite researchers to submit manuscripts concerning the following topics:

  • Musculoskeletal modeling and simulation;
  • Gait analysis and rehabilitation;
  • Neuromuscular control of movement;
  • Advanced EMG signal processing technique;
  • Biomechanical applications in ergonomics;
  • Integration of biomechanics and EMG for human–machine interfaces.

Dr. Andrea Tigrini
Dr. Francesca Lunardini
Dr. Jesús Tornero
Dr. Alessandro Mengarelli
Dr. Federica Verdini
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • human biomechanics
  • electromyography (EMG)
  • musculoskeletal modeling
  • gait analysis

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 1514 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of Finger Movement Impairment Level Recognition Method Based on Fugl-Meyer Assessment Using Surface EMG
by Adhe Rahmatullah Sugiharto Suwito P, Ayumi Ohnishi, Yudith Dian Prawitri, Riries Rulaningtyas, Tsutomu Terada and Masahiko Tsukamoto
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(23), 10830; https://doi.org/10.3390/app142310830 - 22 Nov 2024
Abstract
Subjectivity has been an inherent issue in the conventional Fugl-Meyer assessment, which has been the focus of impairment-level recognition in several studies. This study continues our previous work on the use of EMG to recognize finger movement impairment levels. In contrast to our [...] Read more.
Subjectivity has been an inherent issue in the conventional Fugl-Meyer assessment, which has been the focus of impairment-level recognition in several studies. This study continues our previous work on the use of EMG to recognize finger movement impairment levels. In contrast to our previous work, this study provided a better and more reliable recognition result with improved experimental settings, such as an increased sampling frequency, EMG channels, and extensive patient data. This study employed two data processing mechanisms, inter-subject cross-validation (ISCV) and data-scaled inter-subject cross-validation (DS-ISCV), resulting in two evaluation methods. The machine learning algorithms employed in this study were SVM, random forest (RF), and multi-layer perceptron (MLP). MLP_ISCV achieved the highest average recall score of 0.73 across impairment levels in the spherical grasp task. Subsequently, the highest average recall score of 0.72 among non-majority classes was achieved by SVM_DS-ISCV in the mass extension task. The cross-validation result shows that the proposed method effectively handled the imbalanced dataset without being biased toward the majority class. The proposed method demonstrated the potential to assist doctors in clarifying the subjective assessment of finger movement impairment levels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Biomechanics and EMG Signal Processing)
16 pages, 1369 KiB  
Article
Influence of Neuromuscular Activity and Technical Determinants on Scull Rowing Performance
by Lorenzo Pitto, Geoffrey N. Ertel, Frédéric R. Simon, Gérome C. Gauchard and Guillaume Mornieux
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(19), 9055; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14199055 - 7 Oct 2024
Viewed by 878
Abstract
Rowing is a complex sport where technique can significantly impact performance. A better understanding of the rowers’ technique and neuromuscular activations during scull rowing, along with their impact on rowing performance, could greatly help trainers and athletes. Twelve male rowers were asked to [...] Read more.
Rowing is a complex sport where technique can significantly impact performance. A better understanding of the rowers’ technique and neuromuscular activations during scull rowing, along with their impact on rowing performance, could greatly help trainers and athletes. Twelve male rowers were asked to row at their competitive stroke rate, and we collected data describing neuromuscular activations, trunk and arm kinematics, as well as technical determinants such as oar angles and angle asymmetries. We fitted linear mixed-effect models to investigate the effects of these variables on power production and boat speed. A larger effective angle had the greatest positive effect on power output, and slip angles had the largest negative effects. Increased elbow flexion at catch had the greatest negative effect on speed. Angle asymmetries affected neither power nor speed. Increased upper limb neuromuscular activity during the first and third quarters of the drive phase helped reduce slip angles, thus increasing performance. Power and speed were influenced similarly by the predictor variables. Still, they showed subtle differences, indicating that the strategies to maximize power production might not be the best ones to also achieve the maximum speed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Biomechanics and EMG Signal Processing)
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13 pages, 1093 KiB  
Article
Effects of Treadmill Inclination and Load Position on Gait Parameters while Carrying a Backpack Asymmetrically
by Magdalena Zawadka, Monika Maria Koncerewicz and Piotr Gawda
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(18), 8148; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14188148 - 11 Sep 2024
Viewed by 643
Abstract
Incline walking with an external load is a common activity in everyday life. Asymmetrical load carriage can lead to abnormal posture and back pain. Thus, this study aimed to examine the effect of walking uphill with an asymmetrical load in two positions on [...] Read more.
Incline walking with an external load is a common activity in everyday life. Asymmetrical load carriage can lead to abnormal posture and back pain. Thus, this study aimed to examine the effect of walking uphill with an asymmetrical load in two positions on the spatiotemporal parameters of gait in young adults. Forty-one asymptomatic human volunteers were enrolled in this study. They were asked to walk at a self-selected pace on level and uphill (+5° incline) surfaces carrying a backpack in two asymmetrical positions (hand and shoulder). Spatiotemporal gait parameters were recorded using a photocell device. We observed a significant effect of incline and load position on gait parameters (p < 0.05). Although adaptation to walking on inclines was similar with and without a backpack, adaptation to load position was different when the load was hand-held and shoulder-held. Asymmetric loading with different load locations should be considered an important factor influencing daily gait patterns. In the future, this relationship should be further investigated in terms of pain disorders and postural abnormalities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Biomechanics and EMG Signal Processing)
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10 pages, 889 KiB  
Article
Effects of Different Amounts of Dynamic Stretching on Musculotendinous Extensibility and Muscle Strength
by Minori Tanaka, Yuta Koshino, Kensuke Oba, Fuma Sentoku, Miho Komatsuzaki, Naoto Kyotani, Tomoya Ishida, Satoshi Kasahara, Harukazu Tohyama and Mina Samukawa
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(15), 6745; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14156745 - 2 Aug 2024
Viewed by 842
Abstract
Dynamic stretching (DS) is performed as a warm-up to improve the range of motion and athletic performance. However, the effect of different amounts of DS on muscle performance remains unclear. This study investigated the effects of DS repetitions with one or four sets [...] Read more.
Dynamic stretching (DS) is performed as a warm-up to improve the range of motion and athletic performance. However, the effect of different amounts of DS on muscle performance remains unclear. This study investigated the effects of DS repetitions with one or four sets of 30 s on musculotendinous extensibility and muscle strength. Fourteen healthy men (23.6 ± 1.5 years) underwent DS to ankle plantar flexors for one set (fifteen repetitions) or four sets after warm-up. The maximal ankle dorsiflexion angle, musculotendinous stiffness (MTS), passive torque, peak plantarflexion torque during maximal isometric contraction, and muscle temperature were measured before and after stretching. A significant effect of time was observed on the maximal ankle dorsiflexion angle, MTS, passive torque, and muscle temperature (p < 0.001). However, no interactions or effects between the conditions were observed. After DS, the maximal ankle dorsiflexion angle and muscle temperature significantly increased (p < 0.01), while the MTS and passive torque significantly decreased (p < 0.01). The maximal muscle strength showed no significant effects or interactions (p = 0.198−0.439). These results indicated that one and four sets of DS effectively increased musculotendinous extensibility. Thus, one set of DS may have similar effects as a warm-up before four sets of DS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Human Biomechanics and EMG Signal Processing)
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