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The upper and lower limb initially develops as a small bulge called a limb bud, which appears on the lateral side of the early embryo. The upper limb bud appears near the end of the fourth week of development, with the lower limb bud appearing shortly after.
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Subject-specific Musculoskeletal Model for Studying Bone Strain During Dynamic Motion
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Human lower leg muscles grow asynchronously.

Brian V Y Chow1,2, Catherine Morgan3, Caroline Rae1,4

  • 1Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Journal of Anatomy
|November 2, 2023
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Human lower leg muscles do not grow in synchrony during childhood. This asynchronous growth, particularly in the first five years, impacts muscle development and may aid in identifying growth disorders.

Keywords:
childrengrowthlower leg musclesmagnetic resonance imagingmaturation

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Area of Science:

  • Pediatric growth and development
  • Biomedical imaging
  • Artificial intelligence in medicine

Background:

  • Childhood muscle growth is crucial for mobility and development.
  • Understanding synchronous vs. asynchronous muscle growth is key to pediatric health.
  • Previous research has not definitively addressed lower leg muscle synchrony.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether human lower leg muscles grow synchronously during childhood.
  • To analyze age-related changes in the relative volumes of lower leg muscles.
  • To test the hypothesis of synchronous muscle growth in the lower leg.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for muscle volume measurement.
  • Employed deep learning for advanced medical image segmentation.
  • Quantified volumes of 10 lower leg muscles in 208 children (infants to adolescents).

Main Results:

  • Significant age-related changes in the relative volume of most lower leg muscles were observed.
  • Asynchronous growth was evident from birth through adolescence, most pronounced before age five.
  • Infancy's largest muscles, medial gastrocnemius and soleus, exhibited faster growth initially.

Conclusions:

  • Human lower leg muscles grow asynchronously.
  • Findings support early detection of atypical growth patterns.
  • This research can inform targeted interventions for conditions like cerebral palsy.