Evaluation of the Muscle Fatigue Based on Ultrasound Images

Ultrasound imaging can inherently provide morphological information of individual muscles. In this study, we demonstrated the feasibility to use ultrasound images to characterize the feature of muscle fatigue. The right biceps brachii muscles of 8 normal young male adult subjects were tested under the 80% of the maximal voluntary isometric contraction for 30s. The SEMG signal of the same muscle was also recorded simultaneously. The results showed that the RMS of SEMG increased and the MDF of SEMG decreased continuously during the experiment, which confirmed that the muscle experience fatigue. At the same time, the muscle thickness continuously increased nonlinearly during the process of muscle fatigue, and the overall mean deformation was 3.5 plusmn 1.6 % at 20s. Our result illuminates that the muscle fatigue can be evaluated by ultrasound images