Detection of Localised Muscle Fatigue by Using Wireless Surface Electromyogram ( sEMG ) and Heart Rate in Sports

In sport, most of the muscle fatigue occurred on the upper limb is due to the arm movement in static and dynamic activities. Moreover, there are limited devices to measure muscle activity in real-time monitoring when games ongoing. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to detect muscle fatigue by using the wireless surface Electromyogram (sEMG) in a different type of contraction activity. Two types of experiment were conducted in this paper, which is for isotonic and isometric contraction activities. In order to measure muscle activity, sEMG was used as an invasive technique with (Ag/AgCl) wet electrode placed on the skin. Furthermore, heart rate sensor was included to identify the relationship of muscle activity and heart beat. In prior, a prototype of sEMG with 10bit analogue digital converter (ADC) microcontroller was developed for the measurement. Then, it was transmitted the signal to the computer wirelessly for the further post-processing analysis. Reducing the amplitude of signal during exercise indicates the muscle fatigue has occurred. The results reveal that biceps brachii is the most active muscle during forearm lifting movement. It was hugely differenced when compared to triceps brachii muscle during isotonic contraction in one-sixth ratio. Also, increasing physical activity significantly accelerated fatigue in muscle and also raised the heart rate per minute. The results presented here may facilitate improvements in the prediction of fatigue that will lead to exhaustion for another muscle. _______________________________________________________________________________________