Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2019
25th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
ELECTRICAL ACTIVITY EVALUATION OF SELECTED MUSCLES OF A WHEELCHAIR USER USING ELECTROMYOGRAPHY - A CASE STUDY
Submission Author:
Thiago Gomes Cardoso , MG
Co-Authors:
Thiago Gomes Cardoso, Gilmar da Cunha Sousa, Francisco Lepore, Diego Augusto Costa Alves, Mario Eduardo Rodrigues, FREDERICO LIZARDO, Horacio Albertini Neto
Presenter: Thiago Gomes Cardoso
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2019.COB2019-0761
Abstract
It is recurrent among wheelchair users complaints of chronic pain and also those resulting from repetitive use of the upper limbs. In general, in order to treat these pains, strengthening exercises and muscle rehabilitation are recommended. However, there is still low adherence of wheelchair users or people with reduced mobility in strengthening routines mainly due to the lack of specific equipment. In order to develop and design such an equipment, it is necessary to collect parameters and variables related to muscular activities, since the metabolic and clinical conditions of a wheelchair user are altered as a function of their injury. By this concept, understanding the muscles activity for those involved in the motor gesture of propulsion of a wheelchair, as well as whether the bilateral muscular activity is symmetrical or asymmetric is an essential parameter for the design. The objective of this study was to evaluate the electrical activity of selected muscles involved in the wheelchair propulsion process using electromyography and to verify if this activity is symmetrical or asymmetrical on the right and left sides of the body as well as to have a general overview of which muscles will be more demanded. With this analysis a better understanding of the intrinsic needs for the design of a resistance training equipment of upper limbs for wheelchair users and / or persons with reduced mobility can be achieved. Preliminary results showed asymmetry concerning electrical activity. The most activated muscles on the left side were the long head triceps and the deltoid acromial part whereas on the right side the most activated ones were the brachioradialis and deltoid clavicular part considering those muscles selected for analysis.
Keywords
People with disabilities, muscular activity, electromyography, resistance training, wheelchair
