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Thickness is defined as the area between the aponeuroses of the muscle. A low gear ratio occurs when the contraction velocity of the whole muscle and individual fibers is approximately the same, resulting in a gear ratio of 1. Conditions resulting in a low gear ratio include high force and low velocity contraction of the whole muscle.
It is typically used to describe the contraction properties of pennate muscles. [1] It is not the same as the anatomical cross-sectional area (ACSA), which is the area of the crossection of a muscle perpendicular to its longitudinal axis. In a non-pennate muscle the fibers are parallel to the longitudinal axis, and therefore PCSA and ACSA coincide.
For a pennate muscle, cosΦ is always less than 1, meaning that the distance ac is always shorter than the distance ab, thus the muscle fiber shortening is 'amplified' by a factor of 1/cosΦ. Architectural gear ratio , also called anatomical gear ratio (AGR) is a feature of pennate muscle defined by the ratio between the longitudinal strain of ...
A pennate or pinnate muscle (also called a penniform muscle) is a type of skeletal muscle with fascicles that attach obliquely (in a slanting position) to its tendon. This type of muscle generally allows higher force production but a smaller range of motion. [1] [2] When a muscle contracts and shortens, the pennation angle increases. [3]
The usual arrangements are types of parallel, and types of pennate muscle. In parallel muscles, the fascicles run parallel to the axis of force generation, but the fascicles can vary in their relationship to one another, and to their tendons. [28] These variations are seen in fusiform, strap, and convergent muscles. [4]
To elicit muscle contraction, the muscle is stimulated by a series of electrical pulses delivered by an electrode to stimulate either the motor nerve or the muscle tissue itself. Simultaneously, a computer-controlled servo motor in the testing apparatus oscillates the muscle while measuring the force generated by the stimulated muscle.
The stretch reflex (myotatic reflex), or more accurately "muscle stretch reflex", is a muscle contraction in response to stretching a muscle. The function of the reflex is generally thought to be maintaining the muscle at a constant length but the response is often coordinated across multiple muscles and even joints. [ 1 ]
Similarly, the higher the contraction velocity, the lower the tension in the muscle. This hyperbolic form has been found to fit the empirical constant only during isotonic contractions near resting length. [1] The muscle tension decreases as the shortening velocity increases. This feature has been attributed to two main causes.