Characterization of Muscle Fatigue in Diabetic Patients with Peripheral Neuropathy

Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy (DPN) is one of the most common complications encountered in type-II diabetic patients. DPN causes motor disability, such as nerve damage and muscle weakness, which leads to an increased risk in falling during performance of activities of daily living (ADL). The extent of muscle weakness can be detected via analysis of surface electromyography (EMG) data. The objective of this study was to investigate if DPN patients were at a higher risk of falling when experiencing muscle fatigue during execution of extraneous tasks. A total of 30 participants (15 DPN patients and 15 healthy subjects) were recruited for this study and EMG data was collected from lower extremity muscles during walking. The sEMG data were analyzed for the detection of transition-to-fatigue phase during gait. The onset of muscle fatigue was detected via spectral feature analysis, i.e., mean and median frequency analysis. Independent t-tests were conducted to assess group differences (p<0.05). Our results indicated that DPN patients demonstrated the onset of muscle fatigue quicker as compared to age and gender matched healthy individuals (p<0.05). These results are expected to improve clinical observations of DPN patients and may contribute towards development of novel fall prevention strategies.