2022, Vol. 4, Issue 2, Part B

Introduction: Surface electromyography (sEMG) equipment technological advancements are opening more and more new options for the use of this technology in many medical areas and rehabilitation, including physiotherapy on land and in the water environment.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of electromyography (EMG) wearable sensors in hydro-rehabilitation and to analyze the use of surface electromyography in the rehabilitation of various diseases on land and in the water environment

Methods: Studies were searched for on the Pub-Med, Science direct, and Google Scholar databases using the following descriptors: “sEMG rehabilitation”, “sEMG physiotherapy”, “surface electromyography physiotherapy”, “sEMG hydrotherapy”, resulting in 57,200 citations in total. After reviewing for inclusion criteria – methodological quality assessment using the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) scale and consistency with the theme of systematic review – 152 studies remained in the analysis.

Results: A total of 153 articles were found in 3 databases searched, only 30 were included and classified with good methodological quality by Pedro because they were related to surface electromyography, physiotherapy on land and hydrotherapy.

Conclusion: The role of EMG sensors to measure muscle activity is extremely important for the physiotherapist to monitor and evaluate the clinical process and the effectiveness of hydro-rehabilitation as a treatment method. More research is needed in order to find a functional and reliable way of use.