Our biology staff scientist, John Melville, has been working with our new LabQuest Mini and has found a way to integrate video analysis into a simple muscle physiology experiment. EKG sensors are attached to the bicep and forearm muscles to record muscle activity. A Low-g Accelerometer is then attached to the wrist to measure joint angle. The video capture feature in Logger Pro is then used to synchronize video from a DV camera and the physiological data from the LabQuest Mini. The subject is filmed performing a simple bicep curl. Students can then clearly see that muscle activity precedes movement of the arm and that the forearm muscle activity precedes activation of the bicep.

In addition, the advanced video analysis features in Logger Pro can be used to correlate muscle activity with the velocity and acceleration of the hand during the bicep curl. Sample data are provided in the figure below.

Download the EMG Activity and Joint Angle Video (Quicktime Format) »