The reliability of the slopes and y-intercepts of the motor unit firing times and action potential waveforms versus recruitment threshold relationships derived from surface electromyography signal decomposition

Purpose Changes in motor unit (MU) activity pre- to post-interventions is of high interest. However, there is minimal information regarding day-to-day changes or the reliability of measuring MU activity. This study examined the reliability of relationships calculated via the MU action potential (AP) trains derived from surface electromyography signal decomposition. A comparison between reliability statistics was made between MUAP trains verified with only the reconstruct-and-test versus verification including reconstruct-and-test with spike trigger average (STA) procedures. Methods Twenty-one individuals performed isometric muscle actions at 50% of maximal voluntary contraction of the first dorsal interosseous on two separate visits. MUs included for reliability analyses initially met the > 90% accuracy from the reconstruct-and-test. STA was applied as an additional exclusionary procedure. Linear regressions were applied to the firing rate and AP amplitude versus recruitment threshold relationships with and without MUs that met the STA criteria. Reliability statistics were also performed on relationships that met a strict range of recruitment thresholds. Reliability was established with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) along with other traditional parameters. Results The firing rate versus recruitment threshold relationships were reliable (ICC > 0.56) and improved (ICC > 0.84) when recruitment ranges were controlled. The slopes of the MUAP amplitude versus recruitment threshold relationships were reliable (ICC > 0.78) while the y-intercepts were reliable (ICC > 0.81) once corrections were made to combat negative scores. Conclusions Electromyographic signal decomposition without the secondary STA verification procedures can be used to detect intervention-related changes in neural drive with confidence when recorded MU recruitment thresholds are similar across days.

Automated summary

This study found that electromyographic signal decomposition can be used to reliably detect intervention-related changes in neural drive. The relationships between firing rate versus recruitment threshold, as well as AP amplitude versus recruitment threshold, are reliable when recorded MU recruitment thresholds are similar across days.