Figure 8

Upper leg EMG activation profiles during walking. Vastus Lateralis (VL), Rectus Femoris (RF), Biceps Femoris (BF), Gluteus Medius (GME). Mean EMG intensity curves of upper leg muscles for control group and seven amputee subjects during 0.7, 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6 m/s treadmill walking. Mean curves are calculated from 40 consecutive cycles. The grand mean curve is shown for the control group. Vertical lines show average toe-off events for the fastest and slowest walking speeds. In amputee subjects, the trend of increasing EMG amplitude with walking speed was not seen across amputee subjects. In amputee subject A11, activation of the VL increased with walking speed at 0-20% of the gait cycle and also a phase shift (max activation appears to occur earlier). There was also activation of the VL around 40% of the gait cycle, but only at the fastest walking speed. There was no distinct activation pattern of the RF at any speed. There was GME activation around 60% of the gait cycle and amplitude increased with walking speed and also a phase shift (max activation appears to occur earlier). In subject A10, GME activation decreased with walking speed at 0-20% and 40-80% of the gait cycle. In subject A03, there was similar activation of the VL and RD across all walking speeds. In subject A02, activation of GME increased dramatically at 20-60% gait cycle for the fastest walking speed with a significant phase shift (peak activation occurs later). There was also a large increase in BF activation at the fastest walking speed.