A calibrated EMG-informed neuromusculoskeletal model can appropriately account for muscle co-contraction in the estimation of hip joint contact forces in people with hip osteoarthritis.
Abnormal hip joint contact forces (HJCF) are considered a primary mechanical contributor to the progression of hip osteoarthritis (OA). Compared to healthy controls, people with hip OA often present with altered muscle activation patterns and greater muscle co-contraction, both of which can influence HJCF. Neuromusculoskeletal (NMS) modelling is non-invasive approach to estimating HJCF, whereby different neural control solutions can be used to estimate muscle forces. Static optimisation, available within the popular NMS modelling software OpenSim, is a commonly used neural control solution, but may not account for an individual's unique muscle activation patterns and/or co-contraction that are often evident in pathological population. Alternatively, electromyography (EMG)-assisted neural control solutions, available within CEINMS software, have been shown to account for individual activation patterns in healthy people. Nonetheless, their application in people with hip OA, with conceivably greater levels of co-contraction, is yet to be explored. The aim of this study was to compare HJCF estimations using static optimisation (in OpenSim) and EMG-assisted (in CEINMS) neural control solutions during walking in people with hip OA. EMG-assisted neural control solution was more consistent with both EMG and joint moment data than static optimisation, and also predicted significantly higher HJCF peaks (p < 0.001). The EMG-assisted neural control solution also accounted for more muscle co-contraction than static optimisation (p = 0.03), which probably contributed to these higher HJCF peaks. Findings suggest that the EMG-assisted neural control solution may estimate more physiologically plausible HJCF than static optimisation in a population with high levels of co-contraction, such as hip OA.