Temperature Influences at the Myoelectric Level in the Upper Extremities of the Human Body

Abstract

Objective: Nowadays, surface electromyography (sEMG) signals are used for a variety of medical interaction applications along with hardware and software interfaces. These signals require advanced techniques with different approaches that enable processing the sEMG signals acquired in the upper limb muscles of a person. Methods: The purpose of this article is to analyze the sEMG signals of the upper limb of a person exposed to temperature changes to envisage its behavior and its nature. The anticipated diagnostic is a key factor in the health field. Therefore, it is very important to develop more precise methods and techniques. For the present study, a heat chamber that allows controlling the temperature of the area where the patient rests his or her hand was designed and implemented. With the appropriate hardware interfaces, the sEMG signals of the hand were registered with MatLab/Simulink software for further analysis. The article explains the analysis and develops knowledge, through a probabilistic approach regarding the change in the sEMG signals. Results: The results show that there is an activity in the sEMG signal response due to changes in temperature and it is feasible to detect them using the proposed method. Conclusion: This finding contributes to research that seeks to characterize temperature’s effect in the biomedical field.