In vivo assessment of muscle fascicle length by extended field-of-view ultrasonography.

The present study examined the reliability and validity of in vivo vastus lateralis (VL) fascicle length (L(f)) assessment by extended field-of-view ultrasonography (EFOV US). Intraexperimenter and intersession reliability of EFOV US were tested. Further, L(f) measured from EFOV US images were compared to L(f) measured from static US images (6-cm FOV) where out-of-field fascicle portions were trigonometrically estimated (linear extrapolation). Finally, spatial accuracy of the EFOV technique was assessed by comparing L(f) measured on swine VL by EFOV US to actual measurements from digital photographs. The difference between repeated VL L(f) measurements by the same experimenter was 2.1 ± 1.7% with an intraclass correlation (ICC) of 0.99 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.95-1.00]. In terms of intersession reliability, no difference (P = 0.48) was observed between L(f) measured on two different occasions, with ICC = 0.95 (CI = 0.80-0.99). The average absolute difference between L(f) measured by EFOV US and using linear extrapolation was 12.6 ± 8.1% [ICC = 0.76 (CI = -0.20-0.94)]; EFOV L(f) was always longer than extrapolated L(f). The relative error of measurement between L(f) measured by EFOV US and by dissective assessment (digital photographs) in isolated swine VL was 0.84% ± 2.6% with an ICC of 0.99 (CI = 0.94-1.00). These results show that EFOV US is a reliable and valid method for the measurement of long muscle fascicle in vivo. Thus EFOV US analysis was proven more accurate for the assessment of skeletal muscle fascicle length than conventional extrapolation methods.

[1]  M. Narici,et al.  Early skeletal muscle hypertrophy and architectural changes in response to high-intensity resistance training. , 2007, Journal of applied physiology.

[2]  A. Blazevich,et al.  Changes in muscle force–length properties affect the early rise of force in vivo , 2009, Muscle & nerve.

[3]  D.C. Liu,et al.  Image Registration Based Wide-Field-of-View Method in Ultrasound Imaging , 2008, 2008 2nd International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering.

[4]  F. Zajac,et al.  A musculoskeletal model of the human lower extremity: the effect of muscle, tendon, and moment arm on the moment-angle relationship of musculotendon actuators at the hip, knee, and ankle. , 1990, Journal of biomechanics.

[5]  O. Seynnes,et al.  Effects of eccentric strength training on biceps femoris muscle architecture and knee joint range of movement , 2009, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[6]  R D Herbert,et al.  Changes in pennation with joint angle and muscle torque: in vivo measurements in human brachialis muscle. , 1995, The Journal of physiology.

[7]  W. Hedrick.  Extended Field of View Real-Time Ultrasound , 2000 .

[8]  Per Aagaard,et al.  Resistance training induces qualitative changes in muscle morphology, muscle architecture, and muscle function in elderly postoperative patients. , 2008, Journal of applied physiology.

[9]  R. Lieber,et al.  Relationship between muscle fiber types and sizes and muscle architectural properties in the mouse hindlimb , 1994, Journal of morphology.

[10]  V. Edgerton,et al.  Muscle architecture and force-velocity relationships in humans. , 1984, Journal of applied physiology: respiratory, environmental and exercise physiology.

[11]  T Finni,et al.  Behaviour of vastus lateralis muscle-tendon during high intensity SSC exercises in vivo. , 2003, Acta physiologica Scandinavica.

[12]  C. Maganaris,et al.  Effect of resistance training on skeletal muscle-specific force in elderly humans. , 2004, Journal of applied physiology.

[13]  Eleftherios Kellis,et al.  Validity of architectural properties of the hamstring muscles: correlation of ultrasound findings with cadaveric dissection. , 2009, Journal of biomechanics.

[14]  Peter A Huijing,et al.  Anatomical information is needed in ultrasound imaging of muscle to avoid potentially substantial errors in measurement of muscle geometry , 2009, Muscle & nerve.

[15]  P. Cerretelli,et al.  Changes in human muscle architecture in disuse-atrophy evaluated by ultrasound imaging. , 1998, Journal of gravitational physiology : a journal of the International Society for Gravitational Physiology.

[16]  Constantinos N. Maganaris,et al.  Differential adaptations to eccentric versus conventional resistance training in older humans , 2009, Experimental physiology.

[17]  Janne Avela,et al.  Panoramic ultrasonography is a valid method to measure changes in skeletal muscle cross-sectional area , 2009, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[18]  Zhaohua Ding,et al.  Quantitative diffusion tensor MRI-based fiber tracking of human skeletal muscle. , 2007, Journal of applied physiology.

[19]  Anthony J Blazevich,et al.  Influence of concentric and eccentric resistance training on architectural adaptation in human quadriceps muscles. , 2007, Journal of applied physiology.

[20]  N. Maffulli,et al.  Ultrasound changes to intramuscular architecture of the quadriceps following intramedullary nailing. , 2002, The Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness.

[21]  M. Narici,et al.  Behavior of human muscle fascicles during shortening and lengthening contractions in vivo. , 2003, Journal of applied physiology.

[22]  P. Komi,et al.  Comparison of force-velocity relationships of vastus lateralis muscle in isokinetic and in stretch-shortening cycle exercises. , 2003, Acta physiologica Scandinavica.

[23]  K. Nosaka,et al.  Assessment of quadriceps muscle cross-sectional area by ultrasound extended-field-of-view imaging , 2010, European Journal of Applied Physiology.

[24]  T Abe,et al.  Relationship between sprint performance and muscle fascicle length in female sprinters. , 2001, Journal of physiological anthropology and applied human science.

[25]  T. Fukunaga,et al.  Muscle fiber and tendon length changes in the human vastus lateralis during slow pedaling. , 2001, Journal of applied physiology.

[26]  Paavo V. Komi,et al.  Two Methods for Estimating Tendinous Tissue Elongation during Human Movement , 2002 .

[27]  T. Fukunaga,et al.  Architectural and functional features of human triceps surae muscles during contraction. , 1998, Journal of applied physiology.

[28]  T Abe,et al.  Sprint performance is related to muscle fascicle length in male 100-m sprinters. , 1999, Journal of applied physiology.

[29]  B. Fornage,et al.  US with extended field of view: phantom-tested accuracy of distance measurements. , 2000, Radiology.

[30]  N. Gill,et al.  Intra‐ and intermuscular variation in human quadriceps femoris architecture assessed in vivo , 2006, Journal of anatomy.

[31]  C. Maganaris,et al.  In vivo measurements of the triceps surae complex architecture in man: implications for muscle function , 1998, The Journal of physiology.

[32]  J. Trotter,et al.  Functional morphology of force transmission in skeletal muscle. A brief review. , 1993, Acta anatomica.

[33]  C. Maganaris,et al.  Repeated contractions alter the geometry of human skeletal muscle. , 2002, Journal of applied physiology.

[34]  Jim Dowling,et al.  The effect of ultrasound probe orientation on muscle architecture measurement. , 2007, Journal of electromyography and kinesiology : official journal of the International Society of Electrophysiological Kinesiology.