L4/L5 디스크 환자 진단을 위한 동적 근전도 신호의 정량화 기법 개발

Parameterization of Dynamic Electromyographic Signal for Diagnosing L4/L5 Disc Patients

Numerical parameters have been developed to diagnose L4/L5 disc patients during repetitive flexions and extensions. Electromyography(EMG) has been used to define the muscle excitation and movement cycle in this study. Twenty healthy subjects and twenty L4/L5 disc patients were recruited for the experiment. The subjective pain levels of patients were recorded as $3.7{\pm}1.6$ according to visual analogue scale where 10 was the maximum pain level. Variance ratio of motion cycle was suggested as a new parameter to examine the consistency of the trunk movement. The results indicated that the temporal EMG pattern such as peak time difference between Quadriceps and Hamstrings, the duration of coexcitation between Erector spinae and Rectus abdominis muscle pairs showed a statistically significant difference between healthy subjects and patients. Variance ratio of External oblique and Internal oblique also showed a statistically significant difference. It is expected that those results could be used for diagnosis by building a database for various back pain patients and healthy subjects. This method can eventually help physicians for early diagnosis and prevention of low back disorders.