Muscle–tendon unit scaling methods of Hill-type musculoskeletal models: An overview

Abstract

This article gives an overview of the state of the art in scaling methods of generic Hill-type muscle model parameters in view of different applications and implementation of experimental data. This article establishes the requirements used to alter a generic model toward subject-specific musculoskeletal models. This article aims to improve model transparency by a structured description of scaling methods and the associated limitations in musculoskeletal models and highlight the importance of selecting a scaling method supporting the purpose of the model.

Workflow assessing the effect of gait alterations on stresses in the medial tibial cartilage - combined musculoskeletal modelling and finite element analysis

“…Ideally, this should be personalized e.g. based on isometric and isokinetic measurements for instance using optimization-based approaches 88 . While these strength measurements can be performed, there is the issue of whether the subject is producing maximal forces especially in a patient population.…”

Modelling force-length-activation relationships of wrist and finger extensor muscles

“…In the most advanced hand musculoskeletal models, the force-length relationship of each muscle is obtained by scaling a generic curve using cadaver data [11,15,16,24]. Although this is a well-accepted way of modelling, such models often require a scaling of certain muscle-tendon unit parameters so they are more representative of participant abilities, especially the maximal joint torques [25,26]. Nevertheless, because of the complexity of the hand and wrist anatomy, only few data exist regarding the capacities of this musculoskeletal system [27] and the link between joint postures, muscle lengths and maximum forces remain poorly understood.…”

The dynamics of the skeletal muscle: A systems biophysics perspective on muscle modeling with the focus on Hill‐type muscle models

“…In this process, the two major challenges are: (a) finding such generic characteristics (this is the focus of the discussion in this articles) and (b) scaling them by parameters (calibration) which can be (easily) measured macroscopically, ideally in vivo. For an overview of experimental methods and approaches for the parametrization and validation, we refer to a recent overview papers …”