Abstract
BACKGROUND:
As it is not easy to investigate various variables that affect exercise efficacies and cause injuries while pedaling in the actual experiment, especially for the elderly, the musculoskeletal model simulation with a comparison of measured electromyography (EMG) data could be used to minimize experimental trials.
OBJECTIVE:
The measured EMG data were compared with the muscle activities from the musculoskeletal model through forward (FD) and inverse dynamic (ID) analysis.
METHODS:
EMG was measured from eight young adult (20's) and eight elderly (70's) in three minutes pedaling with a constant load and 40 revolutions per minute (RPM) cadence. The muscles used for the analysis were the VastusLateralis, Tibialis Anterior, Bicep Femoris, and Gastrocnemius Medial. Pearson's correlation coefficients of the muscle activity patterns, on-off set, and peak timing at the maximum muscle activity were calculated and compared. BIKE3D and GaitLowerExtremity model were used for the FD and ID simulation.
RESULTS:
There are significant correlations in the muscle activity patterns except in the case of Biceps Femoris muscle by ID. Thus, it can be concluded that muscle activities of model & EMG showed similar results.
CONCLUSION:
The result shows that it could be possible to use the musculoskeletal model for various pedaling simulations.