EMG sensor location: Does it influence the ability to detect differences in muscle contraction conditions?

Even though it is well known that electromyography (EMG) characteristics are influenced by electrode placement it is common to use a single pair of sensors per muscle for EMG. This study was designed to determine if the ability to distinguish between contraction conditions was influenced by sensor location. Subjects (n = 10; 27 ± 5.3 years; 82 ± 13.4 kg; 178 ± 7.1 cm) completed six elbow flexor conditions: three isometric contraction intensities (100% maximum effort, 80%, 50%) and three isotonic contraction intensities (heavy weight, 80% and 50% of the weight). Three pairs of electrodes were placed centrally, medially and laterally on the biceps brachii belly in line with the muscle fibers. Isometric contractions were held for 5 s, with the middle 3 s analyzed. Isotonic exercises included five repetitions of elbow flexion–extension, with the middle three repetitions analyzed. Average EMG (EMGAVG), root mean square EMG (EMGRMS) and mean power frequency (MPF) were calculated for each extracted data set. Dependent variables were analyzed using 2 (contraction type) × 3 (intensity) repeated measures ANOVAs per sensor. EMGAVG was influenced by the interaction between contraction type and intensity for all sensors (p < 0.05). EMGRMS as well as MPF were influenced by the interaction between contraction type and intensity for the lateral and central leads (p < 0.05) but not the medial leads (p > 0.05). Different conclusions could have been reached from the same experiment due to different sensor locations. These differences were primarily related to comparing contraction types (i.e., isotonic vs. isometric).