Abstract: In the method for compressing image data, a main block and it's sub-blocks are selected for processing and all sub-block groups and, finally, the main block to be compressed are processed in a fixed order starting from the lowest level blocks, i.e. blocks of level 1, whereby at the same time the status function is formed which is a series of numerical or status values depending in a certain way on the content of all sub-blocks of the main block. The original information of the blocks indicated by the status function is compressed into a small amount of values arranged in a certain way, and when decoding the image data, the original information of said blocks may be recovered at least approximately. In the encoding of each block of level 1, a threshold value and a quantization step may be defined and adapted in relation to each other or independently so that the relationship between the size and quality of the compressed image is optimal.

Abstract: A method and an apparatus for measuring muscle fatigue is disclosed, in which electromyographic (EMG) signals are measured from a muscle in order to determine the fatigue level of the muscle.