TY - JOUR
T1 - Are current measurements of lower extremity muscle architecture accurate?
AU - Ward, Samuel R.
AU - Eng, Carolyn M.
AU - Smallwood, Laura H.
AU - Lieber, Richard L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Two of the authors (SRW, RLL) have received funding from National Institutes of Health Grants HD048501 and HD050837 and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Each author certifies that his or her institution has approved or waived approval for the human protocol for this investigation and that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research.
PY - 2009/4
Y1 - 2009/4
N2 - Skeletal muscle architecture is defined as the arrangement of fibers in a muscle and functionally defines performance capacity. Architectural values are used to model muscle-joint behavior and to make surgical decisions. The two most extensively used human lower extremity data sets consist of five total specimens of unknown size, gender, and age. Therefore, it is critically important to generate a high-fidelity human lower extremity muscle architecture data set. We disassembled 27 muscles from 21 human lower extremities to characterize muscle fiber length and physiologic cross-sectional area, which define the excursion and force-generating capacities of a muscle. Based on their architectural features, the soleus, gluteus medius, and vastus lateralis are the strongest muscles, whereas the sartorius, gracilis, and semitendinosus have the largest excursion. The plantarflexors, knee extensors, and hip adductors are the strongest muscle groups acting at each joint, whereas the hip adductors and hip extensors have the largest excursion. Contrary to previous assertions, two-joint muscles do not necessarily have longer fibers than single-joint muscles as seen by the similarity of knee flexor and extensor fiber lengths. These high-resolution data will facilitate the development of more accurate musculoskeletal models and challenge existing theories of muscle design; we believe they will aid in surgical decision making.
AB - Skeletal muscle architecture is defined as the arrangement of fibers in a muscle and functionally defines performance capacity. Architectural values are used to model muscle-joint behavior and to make surgical decisions. The two most extensively used human lower extremity data sets consist of five total specimens of unknown size, gender, and age. Therefore, it is critically important to generate a high-fidelity human lower extremity muscle architecture data set. We disassembled 27 muscles from 21 human lower extremities to characterize muscle fiber length and physiologic cross-sectional area, which define the excursion and force-generating capacities of a muscle. Based on their architectural features, the soleus, gluteus medius, and vastus lateralis are the strongest muscles, whereas the sartorius, gracilis, and semitendinosus have the largest excursion. The plantarflexors, knee extensors, and hip adductors are the strongest muscle groups acting at each joint, whereas the hip adductors and hip extensors have the largest excursion. Contrary to previous assertions, two-joint muscles do not necessarily have longer fibers than single-joint muscles as seen by the similarity of knee flexor and extensor fiber lengths. These high-resolution data will facilitate the development of more accurate musculoskeletal models and challenge existing theories of muscle design; we believe they will aid in surgical decision making.
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U2 - 10.1007/s11999-008-0594-8
DO - 10.1007/s11999-008-0594-8
M3 - Article
C2 - 18972175
AN - SCOPUS:62449167598
SN - 0009-921X
VL - 467
SP - 1074
EP - 1082
JO - Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research
JF - Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research
IS - 4
ER -