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Sensor Anchoring Improves the Correlation Between Intramuscular Pressure and Muscle Tension in a Rabbit Model

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Abstract

Intramuscular pressure (IMP) shows promise for estimating individual muscle tension in vivo. However, previous pressure measurements show high variability during isometric contraction and poor correlation with tension during dynamic contraction. We hypothesized that enhanced sensor anchoring/orientation would improve tension estimation and thus developed a novel pressure sensor with a barbed housing. Sensors were inserted into the tibialis anterior (TA) of New Zealand White rabbits (N = 8) both parallel and perpendicular to the fiber orientation. We measured muscle stress and IMP during both isometric and dynamic contractions. Passive stress showed good agreement for both insertion directions across muscle lengths (ICC > 0.8). Active stress and IMP agreement were good (ICC = 0.87 ± 0.04) for perpendicular insertions but poor (ICC = 0.21 ± 0.22) for parallel insertions across both dynamic contractions and isometric contractions within the muscle’s range of motion. These findings support use of IMP measurements to estimate muscle tension across a range of contraction conditions.

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Abbreviations

IMP:

Intramuscular pressure

COV:

Coefficient of variation

TA:

Tibialis anterior

ROM:

Range of motion

HA:

Hyaluronic acid

PCSA:

Physiological cross-sectional area

COD:

Coefficient of determination

ICC:

Intraclass correlation coefficient

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Shannon Bremner and Mary Esparza for their technical assistance and Dr. Koichi Masuda for valuable experimental advice. We thank Elisabeth Jensen, Shanette Go, Loribeth Evertz, and FISO Corporation for their contribution to the design, development, and manufacturing of the pressure microsensor. This study was supported by National Institute of Health Grants P30AR061303, R24HD050837, R01HD031476, and the Department of Veterans Affairs grant numbers I01RX002462 and IK6 RX003351.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA

    Shawn M. O’Connor

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Samuel R. Ward & Richard L. Lieber

  3. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Kenton R. Kaufman

  4. Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Samuel R. Ward & Richard L. Lieber

  5. Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Samuel R. Ward

  6. Veteran’s Administration San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA

    Richard L. Lieber

  7. Shirley Ryan AbilityLab and Northwestern University, 355 E. Erie Street, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA

    Richard L. Lieber

Authors
  1. Shawn M. O’Connor
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  2. Kenton R. Kaufman
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  3. Samuel R. Ward
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  4. Richard L. Lieber
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Correspondence to Richard L. Lieber.

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Associate Editor Jane Grande-Allen oversaw the review of this article.

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O’Connor, S.M., Kaufman, K.R., Ward, S.R. et al. Sensor Anchoring Improves the Correlation Between Intramuscular Pressure and Muscle Tension in a Rabbit Model. Ann Biomed Eng 49, 912–921 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02633-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02633-7

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