What is an electromyographer?

Electromyograph (EMG) is a tool for observing electrical activity of muscle fibers and motor neurons that excites them. It diagnoses neuromuscular disorders and can provide insight into the causes of muscle weakness and nerve damage. The electrical signal transmitted from the muscle to the electromyograph is measured in Milivolta and is translated into visual and auditory record. Visual recording usually appears as a graph of a wave function on a television monitor, while the auditory record will be a static, crackling sound.

The two main categories of electromyography are intramuscular EMG and EMG surface. During the intramuscular procedure - or needles - EMG is inserted a thin, solid needle in the muscle to measure its activity. After insertion, a short explosion of electrical activity occurs as the needle moves the muscle, and then the signal disappears. Resting muscles usually do not produce no electrical signaling needle insertion, so any irregular resting activity such as fibrillation potentials, detected electromyogramEm, they are signs of damage or disease.

6 Motor units are made of individual neurons and muscle fibers that innervate and control. With extensive nerve damage, several motor neurons sometimes grow new branches and take over muscle fibers that originally belonged to damaged nerves. These neurons shoot at a higher frequency to compensate for the loss of neurons that have been damaged. The result will be fewer potentials with large engine amplitude and actions detected by electromyogram.

The EMG diagnostic needle can help trained health remedies all this information to make a potential diagnosis. Common neuromuscular diseases diagnosed by EMG include herniated discs in the spine that compress the nerve root, damage to nerves from trauma or pressure from nearby structures and muscle dystrophy. More needed to sampling a sufficient number of musclesmall advertising to make a diagnosis.

Surface EMG includes electrode spots placed on the skin rather than on the electrode of the needle. Although it does not provide detailed recording of individual motor units as it does intramuscular EMG, it can provide general measurements of muscle activity in wider body areas. As a result, it is most commonly used during physical therapy in patients who have nerve or muscle damage. The electromyograph becomes a form of biofeedback and allows them to see when and how strong their muscles are downloading.