A Nonstationary Model for the Electromyogram

A theoretical model of the electromyographic (EMG) signal has been developed. In the model, the neural pulse train inputs were considered to be point processes which passed through linear, time-invariant systems that represented the respective motor unit action potential. The outputs were then summed to produce the EMG. It was assumed, that in the production of muscle force, the controlled parameter was the number of active motor units, n(t). The model then showed that the EMG can be represented as an amplitude modulation process of the form EMG = [Kn(t)1/2 w(t) with the stochastic process, w(t), having the spectral and probability characteristics of the EMG during a constant contraction. Various assumptions made in the model development have been verified by experiments.