Test-Retest Repeatability of Surface Electromyography Measurement for Hand Gesture

This study explores the test-retest repeatability of surface EMG measurements during hand gesture tasks across days and across subjects. Subjects took part in the data collection experiments on five separate days in a four-week time period. Surface EMG (sEMG) data was collected from the forearm. Intrasubject and intersubject test-retest repeatability of mean absolute values (MAV) and four-order AR model coefficients derived from 8-channel sEMG measurements were investigated using the coefficients of multiple correlation (CMCs) and coefficients of variation (CVs). Experimental results indicate moderate to high test-retest reliability for MAV and AR coefficients of sEMG measurements for nine of the ten studied hand gestures. The differences in test-retest repeatability among the hand gesture tasks also provide some insight into the effects of individual differences, electrode placement and gesture-specific characteristic of sEMG measurement.