A computer-based system for the use of electromyographic methods for the measurement of physiological costs associated with operating hand-held tools and computer input devices

Abstract

Electromyography enables the measurement of the intensity of muscle exertions which are demanded when working with hand-held tools and controls as well as when performing repetitive manual movements. Utilizing multi-channel recording devices, comprehensive physiological responses of working muscles can be quantified in figures and numbers, whereby more or less ergonomically designed tools lead to different physiological costs in terms of muscle strain associated with work. A computer-based system was developed for the suitable application of electromyography, a technique which requires differentiated and detailed knowledge of the possibilities and limitations as well as a substantial amount of experience. Software packages provide programs for the recording, analysis, and evaluation of myoelectric data. Knowledge about practical methods of appropriate recording and processing of myoelectric data which has been accumulated and further developed during the last decade has been fed into the program system. The same is true for a set of investigations already carried-out and published. Making use of the specifically developed and well-proven software packages which can be loaded into almost all PCs for recording, analyzing, and standardizing electromyographic data, even a user who until now is less familiar with these tasks gains access to electromyography as an efficient and important ergonomic method which is applicable with reasonable expenditure both in the laboratory and in the field.