A novel method of studying fascicle architecture in relaxed and contracted muscles

A muscle's architecture, described by geometric variables such as fascicle pennation angles or lengths, plays a crucial role in its functionality. Usually, single parameters are used to estimate force vectors or lengthening rates, thereby assuming that they represent the architecture properly and are constant during contraction. To describe muscle architecture in more detail and compare relaxed and contracted states, we developed and validated a new approach. The m. soleus of the laboratory rat was shock-frozen while relaxed and under isometric contraction, reconstructed three-dimensionally from histological sections, and fascicle lengths, curvatures and pennation angles, as well as the shape of the aponeuroses were analysed. Remarkable differences in volume distribution and the shapes of the aponeuroses as well as locally varying changes in the fascicle architecture were observed. While the mean pennation angle increased by only 2° due to contraction, local changes of up to 4° were observed. Fascicle curvature increased in the distal but remained unchanged in the proximal parts. Our approach may help to identify functional subunits within the muscle, i.e., regions with homogeneous architectural properties. Our results are discussed regarding the input parameters essential for realistic muscle modelling and challenge maximum isometric force estimations that are based on the physiological cross-sectional area or the Hill-model.