Jp. Vanzandwijk et al., EVALUATION OF A SELF-CONSISTENT METHOD FOR CALCULATING MUSCLE PARAMETERS FROM A SET OF ISOKINETIC RELEASES, Biological cybernetics, 77(4), 1997, pp. 277-281
A new method for calculating parameters describing the force-velocity
relationship of the contractile element and the force-extension relati
onship of the series elastic element of skeletal muscle from a set of
isokinetic release contractions is evaluated using experimental and nu
merical techniques. The method calculates from the set of isokinetic r
eleases those force-velocity and force-extension relationships that gi
ve a self-consistent description of the data set. The self-consistent
calculation method is applied to data obtained from the gastrocnemius
medialis muscle of the rat, since for such an animal model both relati
onships can be independently derived from a set, of isotonic release c
ontractions. For the two animals studied, the force-velocity and force
-extension relationships calculated by the self-consistent method were
in good agreement with the ones derived from isotonic releases perfor
med on the same muscle. The statistical properties of the estimates ob
tained by the calculation method were investigated using a Monte Carlo
technique. The method was found to yield results which were biased by
less than 2% and which possessed a coefficient of variation smaller t
han 5%. These findings indicate that the proposed calculation method c
an be a useful tool for determining the contractile properties of skel
etal muscle as reflected in the force-velocity and force-extension rel
ationships.