Lempel-Ziv complexity of simultaneous surface electromyography and magnetomyography during muscle fatigue

Objective Complexity-based metrics have been applied to surface electromyography (sEMG) to characterize fatigue-related changes in the temporal structure of myoelectric signals beyond amplitude and spectral features. Optically pumped magnetometers (OPM) are sensors that enable non-invasive recordings of magnetomyographic (MMG) signals from skeletal muscle and are increasingly used to complement surface electromyography; however, it remains unclear whether complexity measures derived from magnetic recordings are comparable to those obtained from sEMG. Here, we directly compared fatigue-related dynamics of conventional and complexity-based signal features of sEMG and OPM-MMG measured from the biceps brachii during sustained elbow flexion. Approach Healthy participants performed isometric contractions at 20% maximal voluntary contraction (MVC; 20 min) or 60% MVC (3 min). sEMG and OPM-based MMG were recorded simultaneously, and signal median frequency, root mean square (RMS), and Lempel-Ziv (LZ) complexity were calculated over time. Main results Across contraction intensities, sEMG and MMG showed consistent fatigue-related changes, characterized by increasing RMS, decreasing median frequency, and a progressive decline in LZ over time. In addition, multiple regression analyses indicated that the decrease in LZ was not fully accounted for by concurrent amplitude or spectral changes, suggesting that complexity captures aspects of signal organization that are not fully explained by established features. Finally, while sEMG showed higher LZ complexity and median frequency at 60% compared to 20% MVC, corresponding intensity-dependent effects were not observed in OPM-based MMG. Significance These findings suggest that complexity-based metrics capture fatigue-related changes in neuromuscular signal organization beyond conventional measures, and that sEMG and OPM-based MMG provide similar, though modality-specific, information. Together, the results support the use of complexity metrics in multimodal electrophysiological and biomagnetic assessments of neuromuscular fatigue.