Regional Vastus Medialis and Lateralis Activation in Females with Patellofemoral Pain

Introduction To investigate whether regional activation patterns in the vasti muscles differ between females with and without patellofemoral pain (PFP), and whether muscle activation patterns correlate with knee extension strength. Methods Thirty-six females with PFP and 20 pain-free controls performed a standardized knee flexion-extension task. Activation of vastus medialis (VM) and lateralis (VL) was collected using high-density surface electromyography and analyzed using Principal component (PC) analysis. Spatial locations and temporal coefficients of the PCs, and percent variance they explain were compared between groups and between the concentric and eccentric phases of the movement. Correlations were assessed between PC features and knee extension strength. Results The spatial weights of PC1 (general vasti activation) and PC2 (reflecting vastus-specific activation) were similar between groups (R>0.95). Activation patterns in PFP were less complex than controls. Fewer PCs were necessary to reconstruct 90% of the signal for PFP participants in the concentric phase (p

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