Comparison of SEMG Derived Parameters and Blood Oxygen Saturation in Monitoring Neuromuscular Fatigue in Humans
The effects of neuromuscular fatigue are various and with serious consequences on work performance and safety. This paper provides a practical overview of several noninvasive methods of investigating neuromuscular fatigue (NMF), mainly via the surface electromyographic signal (SEMG), as essentially related to the muscle contraction and intimately mirroring muscle activation and contraction mechanisms. The purpose of this paper is to identify the most suitable non-invasively derived parameters for detecting and quantifying NMF, to be practically used in monitoring people exposed to high risks, such as fighter pilots. Wavelet Transform-based techniques (WT), as well as another original approach, together with the blood oxygen saturation are analyzed and discussed, based on results from preliminary experiments.