Exploration of ECG and EMG Technologies
Sensors helps track ECG and EMG readings, but we can use code to help interpret or design ways to better understand how these readings tell us about a person’s health.Copyright 2019 Erin Shappell, University of Missouri RET
Students learn about electrocardiography (ECG) and electromyography (EMG) and apply this knowledge to an engineering design activity. First, they briefly compare the heart to a common electronic device, such as a computer or smartphone, to understand how the heart uses electricity to pump blood through the body just as computers and smartphones use electricity to open apps, update the screen, etc. Students then use a Jupyter Notebook, an interactive tool containing pre-written Python code, to analyze and plot real EMG and ECG data. They are asked to adjust plots, make observations, and sketch snippets of the data they viewed.
Students also learn about how ECG and EMG measurement capabilities have been integrated into wearables such as smart watches so that users can track their own heart and muscle health daily. In the associated activity, students draw inspiration from smart devices and use the engineering design process to design their own wearable device to track the heart or muscle health of a patient.
Analyzing data and connecting the math and science concepts from this analysis to a real-world design problem is critical to engineering. This lesson introduces students to electrocardiogram (ECG) and electromyography (EMG) data and applies it to problems of identifying and monitoring various heart and neuromuscular disorders. Students are introduced to engineering and design firsthand when they complete the design activity where they use the engineering design process to propose a design for their own ECG or EMG device for identifying or monitoring a disorder/disease of their choice. Designing a device like this is often the job of biomedical engineers.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Analyze EMG data using pre-written Python code.
- Analyze ECG data using pre-written Python code.
- List and explain important uses for the ECG and EMG in healthcare.
- Discuss how and why tracking patients’ ECG and EMG waves is beneficial in healthcare.
- List some heart and neuromuscular disorders/diseases that may be diagnosed with the help of ECG or EMG analysis.
- Apply the engineering design process and what they know about ECG and EMG to propose a portable healthcare device that uses neural wave analysis.