A Preliminary Study on the Use of HD-sEMG for the Functional Imaging of Equine Superficial Muscle Activation during Dynamic Mobilization Exercises.
Authors: Gamucci Fiorenza, Pallante Marcello, Molle Sybille, Merlo Enrico, Bertuglia Andrea
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary: HD-sEMG for Equine Muscle Assessment During Rehabilitation High-density surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) represents a non-invasive advancement in detecting and mapping skeletal muscle activation patterns, using a dense grid of electrodes rather than traditional single-channel systems. Researchers applied 64-electrode configurations to horses performing dynamic mobilisation exercises—specifically lateral bending and flexion/extension tasks—measuring electrical activity in the superficial pectoral and external abdominal oblique muscles, with mastication serving as a validated control measure. The technology successfully captured not only when muscles activated and deactivated, but also allowed estimation of individual motor unit firing frequencies and detection of fatigue onset through changes in signal amplitude and spectral characteristics. These findings suggest HD-sEMG could provide clinicians and researchers with objective, reproducible data on motor control strategies during rehabilitation work, potentially allowing detection of asymmetrical activation patterns or compensatory muscle engagement that might otherwise remain unidentified. For equine professionals designing conditioning or rehabilitation programmes, this technique offers the prospect of evidence-based feedback on whether specific exercises are recruiting intended musculature effectively and identifying fatigue thresholds before clinical lameness or injury develops.
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Practical Takeaways
- •HD-sEMG offers a non-invasive method to objectively measure and visualize core muscle activation during rehabilitation exercises, potentially improving exercise prescription and monitoring in equine therapy
- •This technology could help practitioners quantify whether horses are appropriately engaging target muscles during mobilization work and identify early signs of muscular fatigue
- •Results suggest HD-sEMG has clinical application potential for research-backed rehabilitation program development, though further validation studies are needed before widespread adoption
Key Findings
- •HD-sEMG successfully detected electrical activation of superficial equine muscles (descending pectoral and external abdominal oblique) during dynamic mobilization exercises
- •The technology provided detailed information on muscular activation onset, duration, and offset across different motor tasks (lateral bending and flexion/extension)
- •HD-sEMG analysis enabled assessment of motor control strategies and detection of muscle fatigue onset through amplitude and spectral parameter estimation
- •Masseter muscle activation during mastication served as a validated control condition demonstrating technique feasibility