The aim of this research activity is to study and develop new automatic methods for the analysis of the SEMG signal to reduce the measurement variability and subjectivity and increase the quality of the medical diagnosis.

Surface electromyography (SEMG) is a widely used technique for the evaluation of posture and movement. The analysis of the SEMG signal can assess neuromuscular pathologies in medical disciplines such as neurology, neurophysiology, orthopedics and rehabilitation. Most common uses of SEMG signals are amplitude (or SEMG pattern) measurement or timing measurement.

SEMG analysis frequently requires the estimation of muscle activation timing, as in the case of the functional characterization of the human movement, or of the study of muscle synergies. Muscle timing detection could also be useful in amputated subjects, where the SEMG signal may be used for the control of prosthesis.

The most common method to analyze SEMG signal is still visual inspection, which strongly depends on the skills and the experience of the examiner and suffers from a high subjectivity.