Electromyography as a surrogate for estimating metabolic energy expenditure during locomotion.

Minimizing metabolic energy expenditure (MEE) plays an important role in increasing mobility in people with locomotor disabilities, as movements that require high energy lead to less activity. Rehabilitation programs and devices use MEE to determine how effective they are, but using indirect calorimetry is limiting due to time delays and non-real-world conditions. Electromyography (EMG) offers insight into how muscles activate; thus, the purpose of this study was to develop a real-time MEE feedback system through the utilization of EMG signals.