Spatial analysis: cyclography and kymocyclography
To evaluate working movements in detail, it is necessary to record them in space and time. Cyclography and kymocyclography are used precisely for this purpose.
The main task of these methods is the precise study of the mechanical parameters of movement of the human body or its individual parts.
How this is implemented in practice:
- Working principle: the movement process is continuously recorded using filming or serial photography. The main condition is that the recording of successive moments in time must occur at strictly equal intervals.
- Subject equipment: for the camera to capture the required points, special markers are attached to the subject's body. They are not positioned haphazardly, but strictly on joints or at points corresponding to the centers of gravity of individual body segments.
- Result: based on the obtained frames, a cyclogram is constructed — a visual curve (trajectory) reflecting the path of movement of a limb or the torso.
In modern normal physiology and biomechanics, manual calculation of trajectories has been reduced to a minimum. The processing of all obtained data is carried out automatically using specialized computer technologies.
Functional analysis of muscle activity
In addition to understanding how a hand or leg moves in space, it is important for the researcher to know what efforts the muscular apparatus develops in the process. Two key approaches are used for a comprehensive assessment of muscle activity during labor:
- Mechanography — a method allowing to obtain a mechanogram. It aims exclusively at recording the mechanical activity of muscles (contraction, tension, relaxation).
- Electromyography — a method resulting in an electromyogram. In this case, the electrical activity of muscle fibers is recorded, i.e., biopotentials that precede and accompany mechanical contraction.
It is easy to remember the two vectors of movement analysis using the formula "MET": Mechanography (muscle mechanics), Electromyography (muscle electricity), Cyclography (trajectory in space).
Class and exam questions
Why are special markers used in cyclography?
Markers are necessary for accurate tracking of the trajectory. They are fixed on joints or in the projections of the centers of gravity of body segments so that the camera can record their movement at equal intervals of time.
What is the fundamental difference between a mechanogram and an electromyogram?
A mechanogram records the mechanical work of a muscle (the physical contraction itself), whereas an electromyogram records the electrical activity (biopotentials) arising in muscle tissue during labor.
How are the results of modern kymocyclographic studies processed?
Currently, the construction of cyclograms and the calculation of mechanical movement parameters are carried out fully automatically using computer technologies.
What else to study on this topic
- Labor biomechanics as an independent section of normal physiology
- Algorithms for computer processing of cyclograms
- Topography of the centers of gravity of various body segments
- Physiological interpretation of electromyogram patterns
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