An approach for simulation of the muscle force modeling it by summation of motor unit contraction forces

Muscle force is due to the cumulative effect of repetitively contracting motor units (MUs). To simulate the contribution of each MU to whole muscle force, an approach implemented in a novel computer program is proposed. The individual contraction of an MU (the twitch) is modeled by a 6-parameter analytical function previously proposed; the force of one MU is a sum of its contractions due to an applied stimulation pattern, and the muscle force is the sum of the active MUs. The number of MUs, the number of slow, fast-fatigue-resistant, and fast-fatigable MUs, and their six parameters as well as a file with stimulation patterns for each MU are inputs for the developed software. Different muscles and different firing patterns can be simulated changing the input data. The functionality of the program is illustrated with a model consisting of 30 MUs of rat medial gastrocnemius muscle. The twitches of these MUs were experimentally measured and modeled. The forces of the MUs and of the whole muscle were simulated using different stimulation patterns that included different regular, irregular, synchronous, and asynchronous firing patterns of MUs. The size principle of MUs for recruitment and derecruitment was also demonstrated using different stimulation paradigms.