Variable gearing in pennate muscles.

ABSTRACT: Muscle fiber architecture, i.e., the physical arrangement of fibers within a muscle, is an important determinant of a muscle's mechanical function. In pennate muscles, fibers are oriented at an angle to the muscle's line of action and rotate as they shorten, becoming more oblique such that the fraction of force directed along the muscle's line of action decreases throughout a contraction. Fiber rotation decreases a muscle's output force but increases output velocity by allowing the muscle to function at a higher gear ratio (muscle velocity/fiber velocity). The magnitude of fiber rotation, and therefore gear ratio, depends on how the muscle changes shape in the dimensions orthogonal to the muscle's line of action. Here, we show that gear ratio is not fixed for a given muscle but decreases s

SUBMITTER: Azizi E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2234215 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature