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myEMG Monitor
Integrated platform for the measurement of biopotential signals in skeletal
muscle. This technique of electromyography (EMG) is implemented in a circuit
board interfaced with the NI myDAQ.
Figure 1 myEMG Monitor
The stimulus for developing this demonstration was to prove that low amplitude EMG signals
could be acquired and displayed, using the NI myDAQ and basic circuit components. This
practical example aims to highlight key concepts related to biopotential theory, basic
instrumentation and a comparison of healthy and unhealthy wave patterns.
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Introduction
This document will provide instructions about the development of the myEMG Monitor using
the NI myDAQ platform. It shows the hardware developed, the LabVIEW application created
and key code.
Project Overview
The project can be summarised by the following flow chart diagram.
The analogue circuitry is built upon the breadboard and then interfaces with the myDAQ. The
signals are then transferred through the myDAQ to the laptop/desktop via USB.
Components
Electrodes
In order to pick up the low amplitude surface EMG (sEMG) signals, an appropriate skin-
electrode interface is required. This relates to the electrode gel that is required to ensure the
impedance of the skin does not significantly affect the readings obtained. Appropriate
electrodes are shown below. The electrodes chosen were snap connector compatible.
Figure 2 Noraxon disposable self-adhesive Ag-AgCL electrodes
EMG signal
acquired through
surface electrodes
Analogue
Circuitry
myDAQ
Laptop/Desktop
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Electrode Cables
Good quality electrode cables are required to transmit the low voltage potentials from the
skin-electrode interface to the analogue circuitry. In this case, snap connectors were used to
enable connectivity with the electrodes purchased. These come with male DIN connectors.
For integration with the breadboard, these need to be cut. The wires should then be tinned and
placed into the appropriate positions.
Figure 3 Electrode Cables
Analogue Circuitry
The expected values of sEMG signals are in the uV range. For this reason, we need to
amplify the signals by with a large gain. An overall gain of 1000 (a culmination of all stages
of the circuit) is required to provide sufficient amplitude for processing and display in
LabVIEW.
Figure 4 Breadboard circuit design
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In order to provide a large gain stage upon first receiving the sEMG signal, this circuit uses a
differential amplifier (data sheet can be found here). This provides a gain of 110. The circuit
diagram is shown below:
Figure 5 Differential Amplifier
Additional gain stages, rectification and filtering use the following IC OpAmp TL072 Dual
Low-Noise JFET-Input General Purpose Operation Amplifier.
The circuit uses two 9V batteries in series (one as the positive power source and the other as
the negative power source) to power the circuit. This is then reduced to 5V in LabVIEW.
The design of the circuit was copied from an instructables tutorial created by Advancer
Technologies. This tutorial can be found here. NOTE: This design has not be certified or
accredited by any governing bodies. Users build at their own risk and with no guarantee of
correct results. Note that the design does not incorporate the Arduino microcontroller.
LabVIEW Code
sEMG DAQ
To take sEMG readings from the electrodes in LabVIEW, a simple express VI can be used.
This express VI can be found in the Biomedical Toolkit.
Figure 6 sEMG Acquisition in LabVIEW
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This targets the channel AI0 on the myDAQ. Lower level functions are used to produce an
RMS value and a frequency spectrogram. This architecture is based on an example found on
the NI Community here. It is based on a shipped example that comes with this toolkit. The
sample rate should vary between 500 - 2000 Hz for the most reliable readings. All other
parameters should remain default.
Tab control code tutorial
In order to allow easy navigation between the different pages of the tab control, the following
architecture has been used. It is based on an example that can be found here. It uses the
master/slave architecture with a couple of modifications. The top loop deals with commands
received from navigation buttons and from the pages of the tab control. The bottom loop
deals with specific processing requirements on each page. This includes displaying images
and graph indicators.
Figure 7 Master/slave architecture for tab control
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myEMG Monitor Application
Now that we have covered the main aspects that form the project, it is important to look at the
application itself. The myEMG Monitor application should be used as an interactive tutorial
that reinforces understanding of biopotential theory, basic instrumentation and how
LabVIEW can be used for this experiment.
The front panel of the application is shown below.
Figure 8 Front panel of myEMG Monitor
Different pages of
the tutorial
Navigation
Buttons
Navigation
Buttons
Navigation
Buttons
Application
Buttons