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Clinical neurophysiology standards of EMG instrumentation: Twenty years of changes

2019; Elsevier BV; Volume: 131; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.clinph.2019.08.023

1872-8952

Renato J. Verdugo, José Manuel Matamala,

Motor Control and Adaptation

Abstract “Twenty years is nothing” was what Carlos Gardel said in his famous tango “Volver” (to return). Regarding a clinical diagnostic procedure using different technological devices in the XXI century, this is absolutely not true. In 1999, when the previous guideline of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (IFCN) standards for electromyography was written ( Bischoff et al. 1999 ), the use of computers in EMG devices with the analog-to-digital conversion had only been applied in clinics for a few years. Today the sampling techniques, multiscreen displays, averaging procedures, report generation, databases and communication with other devices such as electronic clinical records, among other aspects of EMG, have experienced an explosive development. Moreover, instrumentation and technical factors of EMG can distort neurophysiological signals resulting in changes which may be identical to those seen in diseases; it is essential for clinical neurophysiologists to be aware of these factors. Also, standard instrumentations ensure comparison of results among EMG laboratories, which is fundamental nowadays to determine normative data and cutoff neurophysiological values for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.