Morphological changes in rectus femoris muscle: advanced image processing technique and 3-dimensional visualization to monitor denervated and degenerated muscles treated with functional electrical stimulation

This study demonstrates qualitatively and quantitatively how functional electrical stimulation (FES) restores volume and morphology to denervated degenerate muscle. To this purpose a novel technique was developed to isolate and monitor muscle growth. During 3 years of electrical stimulation, complete 3-dimensional reconstructions of rectus femoris muscles from patients with long-term flaccid paraplegia were made. Spiral computer tomography and advanced image processing tools were developed and used to monitor and measure select muscle regions influenced by the stimulation. The complete morphology of rectus femoris muscle (RFM) was reconstructed at different therapy stages. The results show remarkable changes of shapes and volume: 3-dimensional imaging of rectus femoris muscle demonstrates the restoration process during the therapy.