Identification of surface and deep layer muscles activity by surface EMG

In the surface EMG measurement, since signals generated from surface layer muscles are interfered with signals from deep layer muscles, it is difficult to identify each EMG. In this study, we aimed to identify surface layer and deep layer muscle activity by surface electrode. We focused on the intersection of the two muscles of surface layer and deep layer whose fibers run at right-angle each other. In such place, we placed electrodes along each muscle fiber. We observed the difference of each signals measured from each electrode sets for two kinds of body movements in which each muscle acts independently. At that time, it was confirmed that only the EMG signal along each muscle was detected when the muscle acted independently. Therefore, we thought that it can be identified surface or deep layer muscle activity by the difference of propagation directions of EMG signal along muscle fiber. Accordingly, we tried to identify the propagation direction of EMG using an electrode array. From this result, we found that the propagation direction can be visible by the electrode array. It is thought that we can identify muscle activity of deep layer muscle from the mixed signal from both of surface layer and deep layer by this method.