Facilitated measurement of neuromuscular junction operational stability

单纤维肌电图（SFEMG）是基于运动单元电位（MUPs）分析的技术集合，使用选择性单纤维（SFN）针电极检测，用于评估人体运动单元中肌肉纤维神经肌肉连接（NMJs）操作的稳定性。分析的重点是测量对肌纤维电位（mfp）的电位间间隔（ipi）的可变性（抖动），这些电位间间隔（ipi）有助于从单个运动单元检测到的mup集合。抖动测量对NMJ疾病的诊断非常敏感和特异性，并且被认为对几种NMJ疾病的治疗和管理有用和重要。不幸的是，标准的抖动测量目前很难获得。他们需要大量的医生时间，灵巧性和警惕性，需要患者的大量合作，SFN电极的购买和维护是昂贵的。完成SFEMG研究的困难极大地限制了它们的广泛应用。所提出的研究将开发自动化技术，用于获取合适的肌电信号和分析获取的信号，以获得有价值的抖动相关测量。开发的方法将使SFEMG研究能够更快、更可靠、更容易地完成，从而更广泛地使用它们提供的重要信息。

Single fibre electromyography (SFEMG) is a collection of techniques based on the analysis of motor unit potentials (MUPs), detected using selective single-fibre (SFN) needle electrodes, for assessment of the stability of the operation of the neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) of muscle fibres in human motor units.  The analysis focuses on measuring the variability (jitter) of the inter-potential intervals (IPIs) of pairs of muscle fibre potentials (MFPs) contributing to MUPs, across an ensemble of MUPs detected from a single motor unit.  Jitter measurements are very sensitive and specific for the diagnosis of disorders of the NMJ and are considered useful and important for the treatment and management of several disorders of the NMJ.  Unfortunately, standard jitter measurements are currently difficult to obtain.  They take considerable physician time, dexterity and vigilance, require significant cooperation of the patient and the purchase and maintenance of SFN electrodes is expensive.  The difficulties involved with completing SFEMG studies greatly limit their widespread use.   The proposed research will develop automated techniques for acquiring suitable EMG signals and for analyzing the acquired signals to obtain valuable jitter related measurements.  The developed methods will allow SFEMG studies to be more quickly, reliably and readily completed allowing more widespread use of the important information they provide.