Contractions of a Rat Tibialis Anterior Muscle

Biomechanical researchers studying the contractions of the tibialis anterior muscle in rats found that it was desirable to quickly and accurately quantify the overall movements, as well as localized variations.

Because the experiments involved live tissues, conventional gauges were difficult to apply and tended to interfere with the motion under study. It was important to capture data quickly, and for as many points as possible. Marker tracking had been used but provided only gross averages. It was also time-consuming and tedious for the researchers to process this type of information.

The VIC-3D system from Correlated Solutions was used to rapidly capture contraction data over the entire muscle surface. Due to the system’s speed and simplicity, it was possible to make numerous measurements at precisely timed intervals. There was no interaction with the specimen, and no need to guess which areas would be of greatest interest.

The resulting measurements provided high spatial resolution and made it possible to identify numerous areas where “bunching” of the muscle tissue caused significant variations in muscle contraction. These areas had not been previously identified with conventional methods. Finally, all calculations were done automatically. This saved considerable time and avoided the possibility of human error in data processing.