Virtual muscle: a computational approach to understanding the effects of muscle properties on motor control

This paper describes a computational approach to modeling the complex mechanical properties of muscles and tendons under physiological conditions of recruitment and kinematics. It is embodied as a software package for use with Matlab and Simulink that allows the creation of realistic musculotendon elements for use in motor control simulations. The software employs graphic user interfaces (GUI) and dynamic data exchange (DDE) to facilitate building custom muscle model blocks and linking them to kinetic analyses of complete musculoskeletal systems. It is scalable in complexity and accuracy. The model is based on recently published data on muscle and tendon properties measured in feline slow- and fast-twitch muscle, and incorporates a novel approach to simulating recruitment and frequency modulation of different fiber-types in mixed muscles. This software is distributed freely over the Internet at http://ami.usc.edu/mddf/virtualmuscle.