BACKGROUND Current devices for measuring muscle contraction in vivo have limited accuracy in establishing and re-establishing the optimum muscle length. They are variable in the reproducibility to determine the muscle contraction at this length, and often do not maintain precise conditions during the examination. Consequently, for clinical testing only semi-quantitative methods have been used. ...

Muscle volume and length are important parameters for examining the force-generating capabilities of muscle and their evaluation is necessary in studies that investigate muscle morphology and mechanical changes due to age, function, pathology, surgery and training. In this study, we assessed the validity and reliability of in vivo muscle volume and muscle belly length measurement using a multip...

1. Mechanical properties of the abdominal ventral superficial muscle of the hermit crab, Pagurus pollicarus, were examined under isometric and iso-velocity conditions. The muscle was activated by stimulating its motor nerve at different frequencies. 2. Length-isometric tension relations were measured. Peak tension, Po, was 0'16-0'2MNm" and the sarcomere length of the muscle at the optimum lengt...

Evaluation of muscle structure gives us a better understanding of how muscles contribute to force generation which is significantly altered in children with cerebral palsy (CP). While most muscle structure parameters have shown to be significantly correlated to different expressions of strength development in children with CP and typically developing (TD) children, conflicting results are found...

Elastic tendons can act as muscle power amplifiers or energy-conserving springs during locomotion. We used an in situ muscle-tendon preparation to examine the mechanical function of tendons during lengthening contractions, when muscles absorb energy. Force, length, and power were measured in the lateral gastrocnemius muscle of wild turkeys. Sonomicrometry was used to measure muscle fascicle len...

Muscle spindle proprioceptive receptors play a primary role in encoding the effects of external mechanical perturbations to the body. During externally-imposed stretches of passive, i.e. electrically-quiescent, muscles, the instantaneous firing rates (IFRs) of muscle spindles are associated with characteristics of stretch such as length and velocity. However, even in passive muscle, there are h...

Fascicular length and muscle length were measured in sartorius and peroneus longus muscles of 34 pigs from 10 to 304 days postnatal. Mean sarcomere length was measured from myofibril lar fragments examined in polarized light. Fascicular and muscle lengths were adjusted to a resting length proport ional to a sarcomere length of 2 .5 / lm in order to compensate for differences in degree of contra...