Development of a low-cost EMG biofeedback device kit as an educational tool for physical therapy students

[Purpose] Electromyography biofeedback therapy is applied to various diseases during physical therapy for motor learning. Our aim was to develop a low-cost electromyography biofeedback device kit that students could build by themselves in class and to evaluate whether this kit was an adequate educational tool for physical therapy students. [Subjects and Methods] This study included 34 volunteers from a 3 year physical therapy vocational school and a 4 year university course. All students were tasked with: 1) completing a pre-questionnaire; 2) attending basic lectures on electromyography biofeedback therapy and how to build the device; 3) building the device; and 4) completing a post-questionnaire. [Results] Mean time required to build the device was 50.8 ± 34.1 minutes for the vocational course students and 27.4 ± 8.8 minutes for university students. For both groups, there was a significant increase in the number of students stating “have an interest in,” “be involved with,” and “have knowledge of electromyography biofeedback” when pre- and post-questionnaires were compared. In the post questionnaire, the frequency of the “knowledge increased” response was higher. [Conclusion] Physical therapy students can easily build our new device in a classroom, and this kit is a useful educational tool to motivate learning in electromyography biofeedback.