Estimating the minimum stimulation frequency necessary to evoke tetanic progression based on muscle twitch parameters

The summation of the muscle force caused by an increase in the firing rate is named a tetanic contraction (tetanus), and the minimum stimulation frequency necessary to evoke an unfused/fused tetanus is related to the contraction time (CT) and relaxation time (RT) of the twitch. In particular, the fusion index (FI) is a very useful indicator, and it is used to evaluate the change in the muscle fiber component ratio. However, the measurement of the FI is invasive, because most patients experience pain during the electrical stimulation for tetanus. We expect that the twitch parameters CT and RT can substitute for the FI in the future. We found that the minimum stimulation frequency necessary to evoke the unfused/fused tetanus can be estimated from the twitch parameters as a first step. The results showed that (1) the minimum stimulation frequencies calculated from twitch parameters during unfused/fused tetanus were very similar to those calculated from FI parameters, and (2) they were also strongly correlated with FI parameters regardless of fiber components. The basic characteristics of tetanic progression in different fiber types could be estimated from twitch parameters.