Surface EMG and other measurement techniques in rehabilitation research and practice: are new educational programs needed?

  • 814

    Total Downloads

  • 4,719

    Total Views and Downloads

Submit your idea

Select the journal/section where you want your idea to be submitted:

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission closed

Background

The last 30-50 years have been transformational for our ability to quantify human movement.
New instruments, sensors, and signal processing techniques applied in the sEMG and related fields have demonstrated the utility of integrating science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to advance our understanding of human movement in clinical populations. This is requiring rehabilitation researchers and clinicians to acquire new knowledge in order to (1) investigate which technology-based approaches are beneficial for clinical use, and (2) integrate approaches with supporting evidence into clinical practice.

Technology-based assessment offers many potential opportunities to enhance clinical decision-making in rehabilitation. However, clinical uptake of rehabilitation technologies has lagged research innovation and created a wide gap between the available knowledge in biomechanics and electrophysiology and its clinical applications.

The need to fill this gap by developing new educational programs to train and guide the educators of the next generation of physical and occupational therapists and movement scientists has been outlined in the Frontiers Open Book https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/11157/ and in a number of tutorials (mostly written by engineers), assays, and consensus papers to be found in:

doi.org/10.1515/tnsci-2022-0279,
https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/22/11/4150,
doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2019.102363,
doi:10.1016/j.jelekin.2022.102656,
doi:10.1016/j.jelekin.2020.102440,
doi:10.1016/j.jelekin.2020.102438,
doi.org/10.1016/j.jelekin.2023.102807,
doi:10.1016/j.jelekin.2021.102565.

The first objective of this project is to discuss how rehabilitation clinicians should neither ignore nor be passive users of rehabilitation technologies. Rather, they should play a fundamental role in the development and testing of new technologies, and they should be appropriately educated critical consumers of those on the market. To ensure the necessary foundational knowledge and critical thinking skills, educational content related to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in the curricula of rehabilitation clinicians needs to be upgraded or enhanced. This may look different in different parts of the world as clinical programs and standards vary widely among different countries.

The second objective is to define how much STEM competence would be needed, including when, how, and by whom this knowledge should be taught to a new generation of physical and occupational therapists and movement scientists. In particular, the issue of metrology in biomechanics and electrophysiology should be addressed as a foundation of Evidence Based Practice (EBP).

Contributions dealing with innovation in hardware, software, or signal processing and artificial intelligence, as well as purely clinical studies would not be suitable for this project. However, they could be mentioned as examples or areas of STEM applications.
Articles should address the following issues/questions:

1. the need for upgrading the training of existing professional figures and/or the need for new or specialized practitioners (clinical technologists, academic and/or clinical PTs, neurophysiology technicians, others),

2. is there sufficient evidence that sEMG and related technologies are or will soon be beneficial and clinically meaningful to justify the step from consensus papers to clinical applications and training? Point and counter-point papers are invited,

3. how does the lack of a Ph.D. degree, or clinical doctorate, in many countries, limit the academic career of potential teachers/researchers?

4. discussion of the research, clinical, and educational infrastructure in countries offering a clinical doctorate degree in physical therapy and/or a research doctorate in relevant fields compared to those who do not, including a discussion of the extent to which such degrees are needed in those countries,

5. how, and to what degree, STEM competencies should be prioritized, framed, and delivered in a 3 or 4 year BS curriculum, or in post-baccalaureate Master's or Doctoral curricula, possibly pruning existing coursework,

6. how to frame and deliver STEM competencies with an accessible level math in classroom activities, online educational resources, and educational repositories,

7. how to engage clinicians and engineers in curricula changes, how to increase the interaction between STEM and rehabilitation teachers/students, how to share teaching and research experiences to jointly face and manage the rapid evolution of technology,

8. how to overcome the fact that rehabilitation clinicians are a greatly underused resource for biomedical engineers (and vice-versa) and how forms of co-teaching could be developed to prepare future practitioners to manage the current and impending technological developments in signal processing and AI.

9. the shifting roles and tasks between professions in clinical rehabilitation.

10. how to update reimbursement policies by National Health Services and/or insurance companies and extend coverage for sEMG applications and other emerging rehabilitation technologies.

Keywords: surface electromyography, sEMG, movement analysis, physical therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, education, training, neurorehabilitation metrology

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and it falls under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

    In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Participating Journals

Impact

  • 4,719Topic views
  • 2,548Article views
  • 814Article downloads
View impact