Device Evaluating the Muscular Functional Age
Condition: Healthy Volunteers; Skeletal Muscle
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The CHRONOS project aims to provide a device to detect earlier the motor decline, by
      developing a precise quantitative device measuring "Motor Functional Age" (MFA) of young,
      middle-aged and old people, thus preventing future functional motor loss for healthy aging.
      The MFA might be different from the Chronological Age (CA), depending on lifestyle, physical
      activity, and medical condition. Thus, this device will permit monitoring, adaptation and new
      design of a variety of personalized therapies for healthy aging including physical exercise,
      medication and nutritional interventions to reduce the MFA toward or less than the CA. The
      device combines data processing software that estimates the MFA by assessing muscle aging
      using a non-invasive multichannel electromyographical technique coupled to accelerometry
      sensors for motion evaluation. These data will provide with a built-in clinical database of
      subjects from different age categories (25-75 years old).
    

Detailed description: 
      Background:

      Aging is accompanied by sarcopenia, defined by a loss in muscle mass (starting from the age
      of 25) and strength/function, leading to a decline in mobility. This functional motor decline
      is an increasing health problem with impairing functional independence and quality of life
      among seniors. Furthermore, a sedentary lifestyle reinforced by an abusive use of modern
      technology (videogames, transportation and communication) and poor dietary habits (often rich
      in sugar and fats and poor in high quality proteins) are more common in younger demographics
      than ever before. These unhealthy habits lead to premature muscle aging, sarcopenia and
      future functional motor loss.

      Methods to easily and rapidly assess muscle quality in multiple clinical settings and with
      minimal patient burden are needed.

      Moreover, an individual's CA, taken solely, is rarely a reliable index of an individual's
      ability to perform specific physical task. The proposed MFA concept is innovative since it
      precisely expresses the motor abilities through a sensitive screening of muscle activation
      using a recent HD-sEMG (High density-surface electromyogram) technique that is, by far, more
      robust, precise and representative than the classical single bipolar technique.

      Aim and Objectives:

      In the CHRONOS project, a device using HD-sEMG technology actually devoted to research
      actions only, even though CE-certified, will be designed by testing and combining data
      allowing one to assess the muscle activation efficiency and motion capacity (accelerometry
      sensors), as a function of CA.

        -  Main objective : attribute a MFA to define the normal muscle aging from HD-sEMG and
           accelerometer signals correlated to muscular parameters obtained from Dual Energy X-ray
           Absorptiometry (DEXA), handgrip strength and muscular echography. Data will be collected
           in " reference " individuals, healthy volunteers, aged 25 to 75 years old.

        -  Secondary objectives :

             1. to evaluate the capacity of MFA to detect early muscle aging in " tests "
                individuals, sedentary volunteers within the same age group (45-55 years old).

             2. study correlation between HD-sEMG/accelerometer signals and muscular parameters
                from DEXA, handgrip strength, physical performance by SPPB (Short Physical
                Performance battery), walking speed, walking distance in 6min, physical activity
                evaluated objectively by actimeter, and subjectively by IPAQ (International
                Physical Activity Questionnaire), muscle echography parameters, and nutritional
                data.
    

Intervention name(s): High definition surface electromyography combined with accelerometer
Intervention type(s): Device
Intervention description(s): HD-sEMG and accelerometer data will be collected by Mobita 32® (TMSi) device.
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Diagnostic
Keywords: muscle aging; sarcopenia; neuromuscular dysfunction