Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

Muscle Coordination and Action

Muscle Coordination and Action

Muscle coordination is a complex and finely tuned process essential for smooth and purposeful movements like flexion, extension, adduction, abduction, and rotation. The human body orchestrates the actions of various muscles working in concert, each with a specific role. Four functional types describe how muscles work together: agonist, antagonist, synergist, and fixator.
Agonists
Agonist muscles, often called prime movers, are the primary muscles responsible for producing a specific movement....

Muscle Contraction

Muscle Contraction

Motor Unit Stimulation

Motor Unit Stimulation

When the neuron of a motor unit fires an action potential, it triggers a series of events, leading to a twitch contraction in the muscle fibers. The process of excitation-contraction coupling is crucial in relaying the action potential to the muscle fibers.
The latent period of contraction marks the onset of excitation-contraction coupling, when the action potential propagates across the sarcolemma, preparing the muscle fibers for contraction. As the fibers enter the contraction phase, the...

Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles

Excitation-Contraction Coupling in Skeletal Muscles

Excitation-contraction coupling is a series of events that occur between generating an action potential and initiating a muscle contraction. It occurs at the triad, a structure found in skeletal muscle fibers that comprise a T-tubule and terminal cisternae of the sarcoplasmic reticulum on each side. These triads are visible in longitudinally sectioned muscle fibers. They are typically located at the A-I junction — the junction between the A and I bands of the sarcomere.
When an action...

Isotonic and Isometric Muscle Contractions

Isotonic and Isometric Muscle Contractions

Two primary types of muscle contractions are isotonic and isometric, each serving unique functions and involving distinct mechanisms. Both isotonic and isometric contractions are integral to the body's complex system of movement and stability. Isotonic exercises contribute significantly to functional strength and movement, while isometric contractions are crucial for maintaining posture and joint stability.
Isotonic contractions
Isotonic contractions occur when a muscle changes length while...

Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles

Generation of Action Potential in Skeletal Muscles

Every cell in the body maintains a membrane potential due to an uneven distribution of positive and negative charges across its plasma membrane. The membrane potential is measured in millivolts and quantifies the difference in charge across the membrane.
Like neurons, muscle cells are also regarded as excitable due to their capacity to change in response to stimuli, primarily due to voltage-gated ion channels embedded in their plasma membranes, which get activated by alterations in the...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Investigating the Effects of a Kinematic Gait Parameter-Based Haptic Cue on Toe Clearance in Parkinson's Patients.

Annals of biomedical engineering·2024

Same author

A Novel Kinematic Gait Parameter-Based Vibrotactile Cue for Freezing of Gait Mitigation Among Parkinson's Patients: A Pilot Study.

IEEE transactions on haptics·2024

Same author

Embedded shape morphing for morphologically adaptive robots.

Nature communications·2023

Same author

On-demand, remote and lossless manipulation of biofluid droplets.

Materials horizons·2022

Same author

Leveraging elastic instabilities for amplified performance: Spine-inspired high-speed and high-force soft robots.

Science advances·2020

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Isometric and Eccentric Force Generation Assessment of Skeletal Muscles Isolated from Murine Models of Muscular Dystrophies

Isometric and Eccentric Force Generation Assessment of Skeletal Muscles Isolated from Murine Models of Muscular Dystrophies

Published on: January 31, 2013

Versatile artificial muscles by decoupling anisotropy.

Eric Weissman¹, Rohan Khatavkar¹, Jiefeng Sun¹

¹School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|March 27, 2026

Summary

Researchers developed the helical anisotropically reinforced polymer actuator (HARP), a novel artificial muscle. This versatile HARP achieves high performance and adaptability, paving the way for broader robotics applications.

Keywords:

artificial muscles bioinspired actuation soft robotics

More Related Videos

The Muscle Cuff Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface for the Amplification of Intact Peripheral Nerve Signals

The Muscle Cuff Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface for the Amplification of Intact Peripheral Nerve Signals

Published on: January 13, 2022

Myo-mechanical Analysis of Isolated Skeletal Muscle

Myo-mechanical Analysis of Isolated Skeletal Muscle

Published on: February 22, 2011

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2026

Isometric and Eccentric Force Generation Assessment of Skeletal Muscles Isolated from Murine Models of Muscular Dystrophies

Isometric and Eccentric Force Generation Assessment of Skeletal Muscles Isolated from Murine Models of Muscular Dystrophies

Published on: January 31, 2013

The Muscle Cuff Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface for the Amplification of Intact Peripheral Nerve Signals

The Muscle Cuff Regenerative Peripheral Nerve Interface for the Amplification of Intact Peripheral Nerve Signals

Published on: January 13, 2022

Myo-mechanical Analysis of Isolated Skeletal Muscle

Myo-mechanical Analysis of Isolated Skeletal Muscle

Published on: February 22, 2011

Area of Science:

Robotics
Materials Science
Polymer Science

Background:

Artificial muscles are promising for robotics but lack adaptability.
Current artificial muscles have limitations in performance and versatility.

Purpose of the Study:

To introduce a versatile artificial muscle with high performance.
To demonstrate adaptability to diverse robotic applications.

Main Methods:

Developed the helical anisotropically reinforced polymer actuator (HARP).
Utilized a decoupled design space for independent selection of anisotropy source, tube, and core.
Tuned parameters to meet specific application requirements.

Main Results:

Achieved state-of-the-art performance: up to 75% contraction, 1.93 kW/kg power density, and 29% energy efficiency.
Demonstrated selection of properties like abrasion resistance and high specific work.
Showcased HARP's suitability for complex applications like continuum robots and quadruped robots.

Conclusions:

The HARP offers a unified framework for high performance and versatility in artificial muscles.
This technology provides a practical solution for deploying artificial muscles across various robotic systems.