Arterial revascularization in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) reestablishes large arterial blood supply to the ischemic muscles in lower extremities via bypass grafts or percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA). Currently no gold standard is available for assessment of revascularization effects in lower extremity muscles. This study tests a novel near-infrared diffuse correla...

Biomechanical properties of calf muscles and Achilles tendon may be altered considerably in children with cerebral palsy (CP), contributing to childhood disability. It is unclear how muscle fascicles and tendon respond to rehabilitation and contribute to improvement of ankle-joint properties. Biomechanical properties of the calf muscle fascicles of both gastrocnemius medialis (GM) and soleus (S...

OBJECTIVES Increased resistance to stretch of muscles after stroke may be the result of centrally mediated neural factors such as spasticity or local, peripheral factors such as muscle contracture or thixotropy. The aim was to investigate evidence for an abnormal thixotropic response and compare this with two other factors-contracture and spasticity-which could potentially contribute to muscle ...

In human standing, gravity causes forward toppling about the ankle joint which is prevented by activity in the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles. It has long been assumed that when people sway forwards the calf muscles are stretched and conversely that they shorten with backward sway. Consequently, for many years, two explanations for standing stabilization have flourished. First, tonic muscle a...

The purposes of this study were therefore to characterize the degeneration and regeneration of nerves to the calf muscles after selective neurectomy, both macroscopically and microscopically, and to determine the incidence of such regeneration in a rabbit model. Seventy four New Zealand white rabbits were used. Selective neurectomy to the triceps surae muscles was performed, and the muscles wer...

The purpose of the present study was to investigate muscle mechanical properties and mechanical interaction between muscles in the lower hindlimb of the spastic mutant rat. Length-force characteristics of gastrocnemius (GA), soleus (SO), and plantaris (PL) were assessed in anesthetized spastic and normally developed Han-Wistar rats. In addition, the extent of epimuscular myofascial force transm...

© 2010 The Authors. doi: 10.2340/16501977-0579 Journal Compilation © 2010 Foundation of Rehabilitation Information. ISSN 1650-1977 Objective: To quantify dynamic spasticity, i.e. the coupling between muscle-tendon stretch velocity and muscle activity during gait, of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in children with spastic cerebral palsy. Design: Prospective, cross-sectional study. Subjects...

OBJECTIVE To quantify dynamic spasticity, i.e. the coupling between muscle-tendon stretch velocity and muscle activity during gait, of the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in children with spastic cerebral palsy. DESIGN Prospective, cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS Seventeen ambulatory children with cerebral palsy with spastic calf muscles, and 11 matched typically developing children. MET...