Wearable Multichannel Electromyography Sensors for Homecare Sarcopenia Diagnosis

Sarcopenia leading to a loss of activity ability, affects individuals of various ages, particularly the elderly with limited mobility. Therefore, portable muscle function evaluation is crucial for predicting sarcopenia. However, traditional clinical diagnosis methods are not accessible for home use due to their high costs and inconvenience. Here, to develop a portable and user-friendly muscle function evaluation system to facilely predict sarcopenia, we designed a real-time surface electromyography (sEMG) acquisition system composed of an 8-channel hydrogel-based flexible electrode array and a printed circuit board. Benefiting by the differential circuit layout and the soft nature of the hydrogel electrode, the sEMG sensor array can be conformably attached onto the human wrist with low common mode noise, enabling the non-invasive, continuous sEMG signal collection with a high signal-to-noise ratio of 29.91 dB. As a demonstration, the device was applied to collect sEMG data on a group of elderly individuals. Two sEMG features were extracted, both of which were found to significantly affect sarcopenia. Overall, this lightweight, user-friendly sEMG acquisition system shows promise for homecare use in predicting sarcopenia, offering a cost-effective and convenient alternative to traditional clinical methods.