Automatic Detection of the Electrical Elicited Stapedius Reflex by Evaluation of Its Electromyographic Signals

Abstract

This paper provides a first preliminary description of the dependencies between the stapedius muscle’s behavior and its neuronal activation with the adjustment of cochlear implants in mind. For that, stapedial electromyography (EMG) data are compared with EMG data which were derived from the quadriceps femoris muscle. The rationale behind is, that the stapedius muscle is classified as a striated skeletal muscle as the quadriceps femoris muscle is. Thus, the stapedius should expose a behavior which is similar to that of peripheral skeletal muscles. The stapedial reactions were provoked with contralateral acoustic stimulation and ipsilateral electrical stimulation, respectively. The data from the quadriceps femoris muscle were evoked voluntarily. The correlation of the derived data and their stimuli have shown the following main key points: 1) The stapedius muscle behaves like a regular skeletal muscle; 2) The stapedius muscle exhibits an extended range in which the muscle’s force is linear to the stimulation; 3) On both sides of the linear regime, the stapedius muscle exhibits a sigmoidal behavior.