Article

Stroke patients exhibit abnormal pattern in leg cycling exercise. The aim of this
study was to investigate the effects of visual feedback on the control of cycling
motion in stroke patients from kinesiological, kinematic and kinetic aspects. The
cycling performance derived from cycling electromyography (EMG), cycling cadence,
and torque of forty stroke subjects was evaluated under conditions with and
without visual feedback of cycling cadence. Kinesiological indices, shape
symmetry index (SSI) and area symmetry index (ASI) were extracted from EMG linear
envelopes to evaluate the symmetry of muscle firing patterns during cycling.
Roughness index (RI) was calculated from cycling cadence to represent cycling
smoothness from kinematic aspects. Averaged cycling power (Pav), the product of
cadence and torque, was used to represent force output. The rectus femoris EMG
showed significantly greater ASI with visual feedback, however, the difference in
SSI between the two conditions was not significant. For the biceps femoris, there
was a significant decrease in SSI with visual feedback, while the ASI was not
affected significantly by the task conditions. The cycling smoothness was better
and the average power generated was larger when visual feedback was provided.
This study found that the addition of visual feedback improved both neuromuscular
control and overall performance. Such improvement is likely to be the result of
better control of the rectus femoris muscle activation and coordination of both
legs.
CI - Copyright (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS