Reconstruction of muscle fascicle architecture from iodine-enhanced microCT images: A combined texture mapping and streamline approach

Dynamic Musculoskeletal Functional Morphology: Integrating diceCT and XROMM

“…Continued advances in semi‐ and fully‐automated marker tracking (Knörlein et al, ) are necessary for these methods to be practically applied to orders of magnitude more trials, as has been done for skeletal kinematics and whole muscle length change with Vicon (Reed and Ross, ; Ross et al, ; Iriarte‐Diaz et al, ). Using more automated methods to segment fascicles from diceCT data sets may reduce post‐scanning processing time and would make the segmentation step of this method more replicable (Kupczik et al, ; Dickinson et al, 2018). Such temporal challenges must be surmounted before these methods are a practical and efficient means of testing functional hypotheses in more depth, such as comparing muscle function across multiple behaviors and conditions, as well as with the taxonomic breadth necessary to robustly argue that a structure has emerged through natural selection to endow an organism with a functional adaptation.…”

“…Not only does diceCT have the potential to improve our ability to measure musculo‐tendon morphology, but it also enables data collection from museum specimens that were previously inaccessible to destructive techniques. Applications of diceCT and other staining methods include the digital dissection of muscles too small or complex for traditional dissection (Metscher, ; Jeffery et al, ; Holliday et al, ; Porro and Richards, ), determining muscle orientation in models of bite force (Gignac and Erickson, ; Sellers et al, ), reconstructing three‐dimensional muscle architecture (Kupczik et al, ; Dickinson et al, 2018), and improving the accuracy of inverse dynamic modeling of joint moments (Charles et al, ). One of diceCT's key strengths in muscle functional morphology is its potential to measure muscle architecture in situ , which may generate more accurate measures of joint moment if architecture varies along the length of the muscle's attachment site.…”

Non‐Destructive Determination of Muscle Architectural Variables Through the Use of DiceCT

“…This study reports on a quantitative method for determining muscle fascicle lengths and orientations in situ through the use of diceCT. This work builds on a previously published study by Kupczik et al, (2015), which introduced this methodology upon a single muscle from a domestic dog. However, elements of this approach (both in terms of the protocol for specimen preparation and staining, and the algorithmic reconstruction of muscle fascicles) have since been refined for comparative studies of primate muscle structure and the functional impact of variation therein.…”

Muscle Functional Morphology in Paleobiology: The Past, Present, and Future of “Paleomyology”

“…Since then, there has been a resurgence of interest in iodine staining in combination with the use of microCT (referred to as DiceCT; Metscher, ; Jeffery et al, ; Gignac et al, ; Orsbon et al, in review). DiceCT represents a promising way to address the logistic challenges associated with studying fiber architecture (Jeffery et al, ; Kupczik et al, ; Gignac et al, ; Dickinson et al, in review).…”

“…Recent years have seen an explosion of studies drawing from a variety of disciplines and applying novel methods. For example, evolutionary genomics has revealed differences in myosin expression in humans and chimpanzees (Stedman et al, 2004); new techniques in muscle staining have enabled three-dimensional visualization of muscle tissue (e.g., Jeffery et al, 2011;Cox and Faulkes, 2014;Kupczik et al, 2015;Gignac et al, 2016;Santana, 2016;Orsbon et al, in review;Santana, in review); and many advances have been made in muscle developmental genetics (see Bryson-Richardson and Currie, 2008). These complement the more traditional approaches in muscle anatomy and physiology that continue to advance our understanding of the evolution and function of muscle (e.g., Burrows et al, 2006;Herrel et al, 2008;Diogo et al, 2009;Perry et al, 2011b;Hartstone-Rose et al, 2012).…”