Regional Differences in Muscle and Fascial Tissue Stiffness in the Rectus Femoris Are Dependent Upon Localised Stretching.

ABSTRACT: Mechanical properties of the deep muscle fascia are important in myofascial force transmission and injury; however, its investigation by shear wave elastography (SWE) in the literature is minimal. Regional differences in biarticular muscle stiffness have implications in mechanism of injury. To determine region-specific differences in rectus femoris (RF) fascia and muscle stiffness, 20 healthy participants completed two visits in which RF fascia (FAS) and superficial (SUP) and deep (DEEP) muscle regions were assessed by SWE in three muscle regions (proximal - PROX, medial - MED and distal - DIST) and at three muscle lengths (relaxed - REL, neutral - NEU and passively stretched - PAST). DEEP was consistently stiffer than SUP muscle tissue (all p < 0.01) in all conditions and regions, except

SUBMITTER: Ley CD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12935568 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature