title: Slack length of gastrocnemius medialis and Achilles tendon occurs at different ankle angles.
abstract: Although muscle-tendon slack length is a crucial parameter used in muscle models, this is one of the most difficult measures to estimate in vivo. The aim of this study was to determine the onset of the rise in tension (i.e., slack length) during passive stretching in both Achilles tendon and gastrocnemius medialis. Muscle and tendon shear elastic modulus was measured by elastography (supersonic shear imaging) during passive plantarflexion (0° and 90° of knee angle, 0° representing knee fully extended, in a random order) in 9 participants. The within-session repeatability of the determined slack length was good at 90° of knee flexion (SEM=3.3° and 2.2° for Achilles tendon and gastrocnemius medialis, respectively) and very good at 0° of knee flexion (SEM=1.9° and 1.9° for Achilles tendon and gastrocnemius medialis, respectively). The slack length of gastrocnemius medialis was obtained at a significantly lower plantarflexed angle than for Achilles tendon at both 0° (P<0.0001; mean difference=19.4±3.8°) and 90° of knee flexion (P<0.0001; mean difference=25.5±7.6°). In conclusion, this study showed that the joint angle at which the tendon falls slack can be experimentally determined using supersonic shear imaging. The slack length of gastrocnemius medialis and Achilles tendon occurred at different joint angles. Although reporting this result is crucial to a better understanding of muscle-tendon interactions, further experimental investigations are required to explain this result.
authors: University of Nantes, UFR STAPS, Laboratory "Motricité, Interactions, Performance" (EA 4334), Nantes, France; The University of Queensland, NHMRC Centre of Clinical Research Excellence in Spinal Pain, Injury and Health, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Brisbane, Australia.
authors: François
authors: F
authors: Hug
authors: Lilian
authors: L
authors: Lacourpaille
authors: Olivier
authors: O
authors: Maïsetti
authors: Antoine
authors: A
authors: Nordez
mesh_terms: D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000502:physiology*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Gastrocnemius; Shear elastic modulus; Shear wave elastography; Stiffness; Supersonic shear imaging