Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 24, 2026

Procedures for Rat in situ Skeletal Muscle Contractile Properties
Published on: October 15, 2011
Muscle contraction increases the structural capacity of the lower leg: an in vivo study in the rat
1Institute for Surgical Research, Rikshospitalet, National Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Abstract:
A model to study the contribution of muscle contraction to the structural capacity of the rat tibia was developed. The right lower leg was tested to failure in three-point ventral bending during electrically stimulated muscle contraction. The left lower leg was tested without stimulation, as a control. The mean ultimate bending moment for the stimulated legs was 0.603 Nm, compared with 0.492 Nm for the unstimulated legs (p < 0.001). The ultimate energy absorption was 0.313 and 0.188 J in the stimulated and unstimulated legs, respectively (p < 0.01). Fracture strength has been studied nearly exclusively in dissected bone stripped of all soft tissues. The present investigation suggests that studies of dissected bone are incomplete compared with the in vivo situation, as contraction of the muscles substantially increased the fracture strength of the lower leg in rats.
More Related Videos
07:13Applications of In Vivo Functional Testing of the Rat Tibialis Anterior for Evaluating Tissue Engineered Skeletal Muscle Repair
Published on: October 7, 2016
07:44Construction of Constant-Load (Isotonic) and Constant-Velocity (Isokinetic) Torque-Velocity-Power Profiles In vivo for the Rat Plantar Flexors
Published on: October 3, 2025
Related Concept Videos
Muscle Contraction
Actin and Myosin in Muscle Contraction
Muscle Contraction
Motor Unit Stimulation
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...
Muscle Stimulation Frequency
Wave summation
At low firing rates, motor neurons induce individual twitch contractions in muscle fibers. These twitches...
Smooth Muscle Contraction
The onset of contraction is triggered by an increase in calcium ions within the sarcoplasm, similar to the process in striated muscle. However, smooth muscles have a relatively smaller reservoir of the sarcoplasmic...