Relationship between EMG features and force in orbicularis oris muscle

BACKGROUND: Lip incompetence resulting from mouth breathing is a common clinical manifestation, while there are no definite indicators of amplitude and intensity of muscle functional training in clinical practice, which leads to unsatisfactory training results. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to quantify the relationship between electromyography (EMG) and force in orbicularis oris muscle, so that the indicators of muscle functional training can be evaluated using EMG signals, so as to improve the training effects. METHODS: The EMG and the force signals of orbicularis oris muscle from 0% to 100% MVC within 5 s in twelve healthy subjects (six males and six females; age, 25 +/- 2 years; mass, 60 +/- 15 kg) were recorded simultaneously for three trials. Four EMG features consisting of RMS, WAMP, SampEn and FuzzyEn were analyzed. The regression analyses were performed using first-order and third-order polynomial model. RESULTS: There were high correlations between the four EMG features and muscle force with the two models. The third-order model yielded a higher coefficient of determination (R-2) than the linear model (p < 0.001) and the result of FuzzyEn (R-2: 0.884 +/- 0.059) was the highest in the four features. CONCLUSION: The third-order model with FuzzyEn of EMG signals may be used to guide the muscle functional training.