Preventing Loss of Autonomy in Older Patients by Improving Diagnosis of Sarcopenia and Monitoring With High-definition Surface Electromyography Technology

The aging of the population is a major public health problem with its multifactorial impact on quality of life and maintenance of autonomy. Unfortunately, one consequence of aging is sarcopenia, which affects the intrinsic and functional properties of muscle. It is a risk factor for loss of autonomy, falls, frailty and is associated with increased mortality. Sarcopenia is defined as a progressive loss of muscle mass, strength and physical performance. Classically, sarcopenia is assessed by imaging techniques (MRI, DEXA) or bioelectrical impedancemetry for aspects related to the assessment of muscle mass loss. MRI or DEXA are not widely available and/or access is limited. For functional aspects, grip strength measurements are often used. Currently sarcopenia cannot be diagnosed and evaluated by a single examination, including both the morphological (muscle mass) and functional aspects. Furthermore, several biological markers are associated with muscle mass, strength, and function, but these biomarkers are not specific to skeletal muscle and are weakly associated with clinical goals. Finally, despite the important interest in assessing the qualitative/functional and quantitative aspect of skeletal muscle in neuromuscular impairment, there is currently no tool that routinely assesses these aspects. In this context, developing new approaches for non-invasive assessment of sarcopenia, is a major issue. In this project, the investigators aim to develop an automatic procedure derived from high-definition surface electromyography (HD-sEMG) technology, non-invasive and portable, for the diagnosis of sarcopenia.