Emg recordings in acute care? tracking muscle activity and movement in the initial days after stroke

Wearable sensing provides new, quantitative metrics to monitor recovery and rehabilitation after neurologic injury. Measurements from electromyography (EMG) sensors and inertial measurement units (IMUs) can be used for tracking muscle activity and movement to evaluate prognosis and progression. Measurements of 12 stroke survivors from admission through discharge (25±6 days post-stroke), using EMG and IMU sensors, demonstrated that early patterns of muscle activity, especially of the wrist flexors and extensors, were associated with movement and functional measures at discharge. Interviews with clinicians and stroke survivors highlighted the promise of integrating wearable sensing into rehabilitation, as well as the barriers in time, cost, and data visualization whose resolution may increase clinical use.