SOFi Equine

Description

BACKGROUND: Acoustic myography (AMG) (also known as phonomyography, sound myography, vibromyography, and surface mechanomyogram) is a technique that measures the low-frequency sounds
(1 Hz to 200 Hz) created during muscle activity - sounds that can often be heard with one ear pressed up against a contracting muscle.

VETERINARIANS: can use this tool to help them locate and assess a muscle-related injury. Our SOFi system is able of accurately detecting the contractions of active muscles - no need for shaving or preparing the horse.

HORSE TRAINERS: can use the SOFi system to assess a horse's strength, endurance, efficiency and coordination, as well as identify muscle injuries and track their recovery.
- Simply select the muscles of interest using the app
- Rub in acoustic gel to ensure good acoustic contact with the horse's skin
- Place a sensor on the gel
- Tape the sensor in place with a suitable bandage
- Connect the sensor to a SOFi unit to activate a recording
- Record in real time

The applications, that SOFi has been tested for, include:
- Muscle balance assessment
- Muscle wasting evaluation
- Training tool - with fatigue assessment
- Jumping tool - with take-off and landing
- Lameness assessment

The SOFi system not only presents muscle contractions in real-time, it also provides a real-time balance score to enable you to detect muscle imbalances using our unique SOFi-TM score.

AMG measurements are sent to a tablet or smart phone, so you can immediately see how your horse's muscles are working.

SOFi TM INTERPRETATION: The SOFi system is unique in that it measures the number of active fibers (spatial summation; S), the way in which the central nervous system (CNS) recruits and uses active fibers in a muscle (organization/efficiency; O), and the frequency with which they contract (temporal summation; F). It is by combining the timing aspect of muscle fiber contraction (organisation; O-score) that one can begin to assess the synchronization with which the CNS recruits active fibers in a muscle – and thus more accurately determine the meaning of both signal amplitude and frequency.

S – Spatial Summation: The S parameter refers to the number of muscle fibers recruited during a movement as part of exercise or muscle contraction. A high score obtained during moderate to high levels of exercise is indicative of a very well-trained muscle movement.

O – Organization: The O parameter refers to the period of muscle fiber activity during a recorded period of exercise – muscle efficiency. A high score obtained during moderate to high levels of exercise is a sign of a
very well-trained and highly organized/coordinated muscle movement.

F – Frequency: The F parameter refers to the rate at which muscle fibers are activated (Temporal summation) during a movement as part of exercise or muscle contraction. A high score obtained during moderate to high levels of exercise is a sign of a very well-trained muscle activity.

In addition to these individual scores, the SOFi system calculates the SOFi TM balance for muscle groups - allowing the user to quickly assess muscle imbalances in the body that may be causing lameness or early fatigue and muscle soreness.

SOFi balance:
± 10% from ZERO = MILD IMBALANCE
± 20% from ZERO = MODERATE IMBALANCE
> ± 20% from ZERO = SEVERE IMBALANCE