Effects of muscle activation on shear between human soleus and gastrocnemius muscles

Finni, Taija; Cronin, Neil J.; Mayfield, Dean L.; Lichtwark, Glen A.; Cresswell, Adrian Ben

doi:10.1111/sms.12615

Cited by 32 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…The changes in the inter-muscle difference in shear modulus within triceps surae muscles between both experiments can be associated with the anatomical configuration of these muscles (i.e. bi-articular for gastrocnemii and mono-articular for soleus) and to their passive forcelength relationships (Ma€ ısetti et al 2012;Finni et al 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stiffness mapping of lower leg muscles during passive dorsiflexion

et al. 2017

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It is challenging to differentiate the mechanical properties of synergist muscles in vivo. Shear wave elastography can be used to quantify the shear modulus (i.e. an index of stiffness) of a specific muscle. This study assessed the passive behavior of lower leg muscles during passive dorsiflexion performed with the knee fully extended (experiment 1, n = 22) or with the knee flexed at 90° (experiment 2, n = 20). The shear modulus measurements were repeated twice during experiment 1 to assess the inter-day reliability. During both experiments, the shear modulus of the following plantar flexors was randomly measured: gastrocnemii medialis (GM) and lateralis (GL), soleus (SOL), peroneus longus (PL), and the deep muscles flexor digitorum longus (FDL), flexor hallucis longus (FHL), tibialis posterior (TP). Two antagonist muscles tibialis anterior (TA), and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) were also recorded. Measurements were performed in different proximo-distal regions for GM, GL and SOL. Inter-day reliability was adequate for all muscles (coefficient of variation < 15%), except for TP. In experiment 1, GM exhibited the highest shear modulus at 80% of the maximal range of motion (128.5 ± 27.3 kPa) and was followed by GL (67.1 ± 24.1 kPa). In experiment 2, SOL exhibited the highest shear modulus (55.1 ± 18.0 kPa). The highest values of shear modulus were found for the distal locations of both the GM (80% of participants in experiment 1) and the SOL (100% of participants in experiment 2). For both experiments, deep muscles and PL exhibited low levels of stiffness during the stretch in young asymptomatic adults, which was unknown until now. These results provide a deeper understanding of passive mechanical properties and the distribution of stiffness between and within the plantar flexor muscles during stretching between them and thus could be relevant to study the effects of aging, disease progression, and rehabilitation on stiffness.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stiffness mapping of lower leg muscles during passive dorsiflexion

et al. 2017

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“…In addition, the magnitude of non-myotendinous force transmission appears to be related to the extent of muscle activation and co-activation as suggested by differences between passive and active states (Finni et al. 2015; Tijs 2015). Therefore, scaling of force transmission estimates with muscle activation levels may be needed to integrate this approach into a musculoskeletal model driven by neuromuscular activation time series.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A lumped stiffness model of intermuscular and extramuscular myofascial pathways of force transmission

Bernabei

Maas

Dieën

2016

Biomech Model Mechanobiol

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Mechanical behavior of skeletal muscles is commonly modeled under the assumption of mechanical independence between individual muscles within a muscle group. Epimuscular myofascial force transmission via the connective tissue network surrounding a muscle challenges this assumption as it alters the force distributed to the tendons of individual muscles. This study aimed to derive a lumped estimate of stiffness of the intermuscular and extramuscular connective tissues and to assess changes in such stiffness in response to a manipulation of the interface between adjacent muscles. Based on in situ measurements of force transmission in the rat plantar flexors, before and after resection of their connective tissue network, a nonlinear estimate of epimuscular myofascial stiffness was quantified and included in a multi-muscle model with lumped parameters which allows for force transmission depending on the relative position between the muscles in the group. Such stiffness estimate was assessed for a group with normal intermuscular connective tissues and for a group with increased connectivity, mimicking scar tissue development. The model was able to successfully predict the amount of epimuscular force transmission for different experimental conditions than those used to obtain the model parameters. The proposed nonlinear stiffness estimates of epimuscular pathways could be integrated in larger musculoskeletal models, to provide more accurate predictions of force when effects of mechanical interaction or altered epimuscular connections, e.g. after surgery or injury, are substantial.

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“…It has been shown that knee flexion causes a drop in force production of ankle plantar flexion because of the more isolated contribution of the soleus muscle, as the gastrocnemius can contribute less because of its origin proximal to the knee joint . Additionally, Finni et al described the influence of active vs passive muscle contribution to the behavior of muscle shear, which is believed to have an influence on local tendon behavior. During passive conditions, there is a slack and compliant connection between muscle bellies of the triceps surae, leaving margin for a heterogeneous non‐uniform behavior, which might also be the case at low levels of force production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non‐uniformity in pre‐insertional Achilles tendon is not influenced by changing knee angle during isometric contractions

Bogaerts¹,

Carvalho

Groef

et al. 2018

Scandinavian Med Sci Sports

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Achilles tendinopathy remains a prevalent condition among recreational and high-level athletes. Mechanical loading has become the gold standard in managing these injuries, but exercises are often generic and prescribed in a "one-size-fits-all" principle. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of knee angle changes and different levels of force production on the non-uniform behavior in the Achilles tendon during isometric contractions. It was hypothesized that a flexed knee position would lead to a more distinct non-uniform behavior, due to greater differential loading of soleus vs gastrocnemius, and that this effect would be attenuated by higher levels of force production. Contrary to the hypotheses, it was found that the non-uniform deformation, that is, superficial-to-deep variation in displacement with highest displacement in the deep layer, is consistently present, irrespective of the level of force production and knee angle (n = 19; mean normalized displacement ratio 6.32%, 4.88%, and 4.09% with extended knee vs 5.47%, 2.56%, and 6.01% with flexed knee, at 25%, 50%, and 75% MVC, respectively; P > .05). From tendon perspective, aside from the influence on muscle behavior, this might question the mechanical rationale for a change in knee angle during eccentric heel drops. Additionally, despite reaching high levels of plantar flexion force, the relative contribution of the AT sometimes appears to be decreased, potentially due to compensatory actions by agonist muscle groups. These results are relevant for optimizing AT rehabilitation as the goal is to reach specific local tendon loading.

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Effects of muscle activation on shear between human soleus and gastrocnemius muscles

Cited by 32 publications

References 33 publications

Stiffness mapping of lower leg muscles during passive dorsiflexion

Stiffness mapping of lower leg muscles during passive dorsiflexion

A lumped stiffness model of intermuscular and extramuscular myofascial pathways of force transmission

Non‐uniformity in pre‐insertional Achilles tendon is not influenced by changing knee angle during isometric contractions

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