Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tim J. van der Zee, Arthur D. Kuo
Summary: An algorithm for accurately estimating geometric features of pennate muscle from ultrasound images without drift sensitivity was proposed. Experiments on healthy subjects showed that the algorithm outperformed existing algorithms in terms of accuracy and processing speed.
Article
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science
Johanna Dietrich, Stephan Handschuh, Robert Steidl, Alexandra Boehler, Gerhard Forstenpointner, Monika Egerbacher, Christian Peham, Hanna Schoepper
Summary: The longissimus dorsi muscle plays a crucial role in the stability of the equine spine and proper locomotion. This study investigated the internal architecture of the muscle in different compartments and provided morphometric parameters for future biomechanical modeling. The findings revealed variations in fascicle length, pennation angles, muscle volume, and PCSA along the muscle, laying the foundation for simulating muscle function under different conditions and comparisons with other species.
Review
Sport Sciences
Ioli Panidi, Olyvia Donti, Andreas Konrad, Petros C. Dinas, Gerasimos Terzis, Athanasios Mouratidis, Vasiliki Gaspari, Anastasia Donti, Gregory C. Bogdanis
Summary: Static stretching training increases fascicle length at rest and during stretching in healthy participants. High stretching volumes and intensities induce longitudinal fascicle growth, while high stretching intensities result in increased muscle thickness.
SPORTS MEDICINE-OPEN
(2023)
Article
Sport Sciences
Alejandro Hernandez-Belmonte, Angel Buendia-Romero, Francisco Franco-Lopez, Alejandro Martinez-Cava, Jesus G. Pallares
Summary: This study compared the effects of free-weight and machine-based resistance training on athletic performance and muscle architecture. It found that there were no significant differences between the two training modalities in terms of athletic performance and muscle architecture.
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS
(2023)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Cristina Monsalve-Vicente, Daniel Munoz-Zamarro, Nicolas Cuenca-Zaldivar, Samuel Fernandez-Carnero, Francisco Selva-Sarzo, Susana Nunez-Nagy, Fermin Naranjo-Cinto, Tomas Gallego-Izquierdo
Summary: The objective of this study was to establish a protocol for measuring the pennation angle of the multifidus muscles and evaluate its intra- and inter-rater reliability. The results showed that the protocol had excellent intra-rater reliability, indicating that the measurement method is reliable and stable. Additionally, the study revealed a high correlation between pennation angle and thickness.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Review
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Lilliany de Souza Cordeiro, Diego Gama Linhares, Andressa Oliveira Barros dos Santos, Luciano Lima dos Santos, Juliana Brandao Pinto de Castro, Rodrigo Gomes de Souza Vale
Summary: This study analyzed the influence of resistance training on muscle architecture in older people and found that it can improve muscle strength and structure. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution due to the limited number of studies and potential heterogeneity between studies.
ARCHIVES OF GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRICS
(2023)
Article
Sport Sciences
Jozef J. M. Suskens, Laura Secondulfo, Ozgur Kilic, Melissa T. Hooijmans, Gustaaf Reurink, Martijn Froeling, Aart J. Nederveen, Gustav J. Strijkers, Johannes L. Tol
Summary: This study evaluated the effect of Nordic hamstring exercise and Diver hamstring exercise on the fascicle length and orientation of hamstrings using DTI MRI. The results showed that the Nordic exercise increased the length of the semitendinosus, while the Diver exercise changed the orientation of the biceps femoris long head. Both exercises are important for preventing hamstring injuries.
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS
(2023)
Article
Physiology
Yoann M. Garnier, Romuald Lepers, Patrizio Canepa, Alain Martin, Christos Paizis
Summary: This study investigated the impact of hip and knee angles on the force production capacity, neuromuscular factors, and muscle architecture of the knee extensors. The results showed that the torque generated by knee extensors during maximal contractions primarily depended on peripheral contractile elements such as muscle and fascicle lengths, while central factors such as muscle activation had no effect. Additionally, hip position influenced the pennation angle of the muscle, while muscle length influenced the pennation angle of another muscle.
FRONTIERS IN PHYSIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biophysics
Taylor J. M. Dick, Francois Hug
Summary: This review discusses the advancements in imaging technology that have improved our understanding of in vivo muscle function over the past 50 years. It highlights the gaps in our knowledge regarding muscle behavior during everyday human movements and identifies future challenges in accurately measuring individual muscle forces. The authors hope that the biomechanics community will work together to solve these challenges in the next 50 years.
JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Samantha May, Simon Locke, Michael Kingsley
Summary: The study aimed to investigate the reliability of using ultrasound to measure muscle architecture and determine the minimal detectable change, suggesting that ultrasound measurements of muscle architecture in gastrocnemius muscles are more likely to be useful for detecting population differences than changes following interventions.
Article
Biophysics
Zhongzheng Wang, Antea Destro, Sven Petersson, Francesco Cenni, Ruoli Wang
Summary: Muscle architecture parameters, such as fascicle length, pennation angle, and volume, play a crucial role in muscle morphology. This study compared the 3D muscle architecture parameters of the tibialis anterior and gastrocnemius medialis using 3D freehand ultrasound (3DfUS) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) respectively. The findings showed that 3DfUS measurement had high reliability and repeatability, yielding consistent results with MRI measurements. This suggests that 3DfUS can be considered as an alternative to MRI for evaluating muscle morphology.
JOURNAL OF BIOMECHANICS
(2023)
Article
Sport Sciences
Kevin Cronin, Eamonn Delahunt, Shane Foley, Giuseppe De Vito, Conor McCarthy, Sean Cournane
Summary: The study aims to evaluate the influence of hamstring muscle architectural characteristics on injury risk by developing and assessing a novel semi-automated tracing software for precise measurement of the biceps femoris long head in B-mode ultrasound images.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SPORTS MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Physiology
Kaoru Yahata, Andreas Konrad, Shigeru Sato, Ryosuke Kiyono, Riku Yoshida, Taizan Fukaya, Joao Pedro Nunes, Masatoshi Nakamura
Summary: A high-volume SS programme positively affected muscle strength but did not lead to hypertrophy of the plantar-flexor muscles. The low strain offered by SS sets seems insufficient to induce architectural changes in skeletal muscle, even with a high volume.
EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Francisco Javier Nunez, Ramona Ritzmann, Fernando Hernandez-Abad, Juan Carlos Martinez, Luis Suarez-Arrones
Summary: This study compares the morphological and mechanical properties of previously injured soccer players and uninjured players, and finds some differences. The previously injured players have shorter and thinner muscle fascicles, but higher muscle stiffness. These results are important for injury prevention.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2022)
Article
Biophysics
Stefan Papenkort, Markus Boel, Tobias Siebert
Summary: The study aimed to develop an architectural model capable of predicting the complete 3D fascicle architecture for primarily unipennate muscles of an arbitrary age. Experimental results showed increases in plantaris muscle belly length, mean fascicle length, and mean pennation angle during maturation. The model delivered good results matching interindividual differences and could be utilized for future simulation studies.
BIOMECHANICS AND MODELING IN MECHANOBIOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Chemistry, Analytical
Ilaria Mileti, Alessandro Zampogna, Alessandro Santuz, Francesco Asci, Zaccaria Del Prete, Adamantios Arampatzis, Eduardo Palermo, Antonio Suppa
Article
Biology
Sebastian Bohm, Falk Mersmann, Alessandro Santuz, Adamantios Arampatzis
Summary: The study explored the behavior of the soleus muscle during running and found that improvements in energy cost following increases in plantar flexor strength and Achilles tendon stiffness may be attributed to increased enthalpy efficiency of the operating soleus muscle. The results further suggest that the energy production of the soleus muscle during the lengthening phase of the muscle-tendon unit may play a crucial role in the overall metabolic energy cost of running.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Sport Sciences
Falk Mersmann, Theresa Domroes, Nikolaos Pentidis, Meng-Shiuan Tsai, Sebastian Bohm, Arno Schroll, Adamantios Arampatzis
Summary: This study investigated the effects of evidence-based tendon exercise intervention on high-level patellar tendon strain, micromorphological integrity, and pain in adolescent basketball players. The results suggest that functional high-load tendon exercises may reduce the prevalence of high-level patellar tendon strain and impairments of its micromorphology in adolescent athletes, providing new opportunities for tendinopathy prevention.
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS
(2021)
Article
Biology
Sebastian Bohm, Falk Mersmann, Alessandro Santuz, Arno Schroll, Adamantios Arampatzis
Summary: The study found that the soleus and vastus lateralis muscles operate under different conditions during running, with the soleus continuously shortening as a work generator and the vastus lateralis contracting near optimal length for force generation. The favorable operating conditions of both muscles are attributed to the effective length and velocity-decoupling of fascicles and muscle-tendon unit.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Mohamadreza Kharazi, Christos Theodorakis, Falk Mersmann, Adamantios Arampatzis, Sebastian Bohm
Summary: The study aimed to simplify the measurement of Achilles tendon curvature by reducing the number of markers while maintaining high accuracy. Results showed that using only 30% to 50% of the marker set can maintain high accuracy in determining AT length and strain, which is useful for practical applications.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Juri Taborri, Alessandro Santuz, Leon Bruell, Adamantios Arampatzis, Stefano Rossi
Summary: This study investigates the effects of anterior-posterior and medio-lateral perturbations on walking. The findings suggest that anterior-posterior perturbations are more challenging and result in differences in joint angles, range of motion, and inter-joint coordination. Medio-lateral perturbations only affect the ankle joint. These findings can be applied in rehabilitative protocols to reduce the risk of falling.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Alessandro Santuz, Lars Janshen, Leon Bruell, Victor Munoz-Martel, Juri Taborri, Stefano Rossi, Adamantios Arampatzis
Summary: There is increasing evidence that including sex as a biological variable is crucial for promoting rigorous and reproducible science. However, the literature on the sex-specific characteristics of motor control in human locomotion is limited. In this study, we investigated muscle activation patterns and found sparse sex-specific modulations of motor control. Our results suggest the existence of small but defined sex-specific differences in the way humans control locomotion and that these differences are not fully maintained in older age.
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Robin Macchi, Alessandro Santuz, Arnaud Hays, Fabrice Vercruyssen, Adamantios Arampatzis, Avner Bar -Hen, Caroline Nicol
Summary: This study investigates the influence of sex on recovery after running exercise. The results suggest that women may recover earlier in a dynamic multi-joint task and that sex-specific organization of muscle synergies may contribute to their different recovery times.
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Saru Meena Ramu, Panagiotis Chatzistergos, Nachiappan Chockalingam, Adamantios Arampatzis, Constantinos Maganaris
Summary: Existing approaches for automated tracking of fascicle length and pennation angle have limitations, but this study proposes a new method that quantifies changes in length and angle based on distortion patterns within the fascicle band, without the need for a single fascicle or specific intensity pattern.
Article
Medicine, General & Internal
Goran Radovanovic, Sebastian Bohm, Adamantios Arampatzis, Kirsten Legerlotz
Summary: The study found that patients with Achilles tendinopathy have asymmetries in mechanical, material, and morphological musculoskeletal properties and function. Therapeutic exercise interventions have little effect on these asymmetries, and reducing asymmetry does not necessarily improve tendon health.
JOURNAL OF CLINICAL MEDICINE
(2023)
Article
Biology
Mohamadreza Kharazi, Christos Theodorakis, Falk Mersmann, Sebastian Bohm, Adamantios Arampatzis
Summary: This study enhances our understanding of how different mechanisms in the triceps surae muscles contribute to the increase in mechanical power and work at the ankle joint during different walking speeds. Both the soleus (Sol) and gastrocnemii muscles play a role in the speed-related increase of mechanical work at the ankle joint, but through distinct energetic processes and mechanisms. This knowledge can inform the design of exercise interventions and customized assistance through bioinspired exoskeleton configurations.
Article
Sport Sciences
Theresa Domroes, Kolja Weidlich, Sebastian Bohm, Adamantios Arampatzis, Falk Mersmann
Summary: Imbalances between muscle strength and tendon stiffness may increase the risk of tendon structural impairments and tendinopathy in adolescent athletes. This study found that female athletes had lower muscle strength and patellar tendon stiffness compared to males, with no significant changes over the competitive season. There were no differences in tendon strain and structural integrity fluctuations between sexes.
SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF MEDICINE & SCIENCE IN SPORTS
(2023)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Adamantios Arampatzis, Mohamadreza Kharazi, Christos Theodorakis, Falk Mersmann, Sebastian Bohm
Summary: The study aimed to investigate the role of biarticular mechanisms of the gastrocnemius muscles in providing energy for power and work at the ankle joint during running at increasing speeds. The contribution of the monoarticular soleus and the biarticular gastrocnemius muscles to mechanical power and work at the ankle joint was measured, and it was found that although the soleus had a higher contribution, the biarticular mechanisms of the gastrocnemius also played a significant role. Energy transfer between the ankle and knee joints was observed during the stance and push-off phases, with the gastrocnemius muscles accounting for 16% of the total positive ankle joint work. The rate of energy transfer from the knee to ankle joint increased with speed, indicating the involvement of biarticular mechanisms in running.
ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Geriatrics & Gerontology
Leon Bruell, Natalie Hezel, Adamantios Arampatzis, Michael Schwenk
Summary: This study compared the feasibility and effectiveness of two different balance training methods (PBTtreadmill and PBTstability) in older adults. Both methods were found to be effective in improving balance ability and reducing fall risk in older adults. However, PBTtreadmill showed better results in improving reactive balance, while PBTstability had more wide-ranging effects on balance ability.
Article
Sport Sciences
Adamantios Arampatzis, Gunnar Laube, Arno Schroll, Johannes Frank, Sebastian Bohm, Falk Mersmann
Summary: This study demonstrated the effectiveness of a perturbation-based exercise intervention in preventing chronic non-specific low-back pain in adolescent athletes over one year. The intervention led to a reduction in low-back pain incidence, decreased pain intensity, increased muscle strength, and a reduction in muscle strength imbalances. Specific trunk muscle interventions are necessary for preventing low-back pain in athletes.
TRANSLATIONAL SPORTS MEDICINE
(2021)