Date of Award
2008
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science
Program
Kinesiology
Supervisor
Dr. Tom Jenkyn
Abstract
There is currently no feasible way to directly quantify in-vivo force production in individual skeletal muscles. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the use of intramuscular temperature (IMT) as a proxy measure for muscle force production. The hind-limbs of ten anesthetized male Sprague-Dawley rats were fixed to immobilize the knee joint and allow the foot to dorsi/plantarflex about the ankle joint. An intramuscular temperature probe (IT-18, Woodland Hills, California) was implanted into the lateral gastrocnemius muscle. In each animal, IMT and muscle force production were collected during 22 contractions of varying stimulation intensities and externally applied loads. IMT was a good indicator of muscle activation state (on/off) regardless of fatigue, muscle length, and contraction intensity. IMT and was inversely correlated to the active force production. The data presented in this study suggest that intramuscular temperature is an excellent indicator for muscle contractile activation state. The data in this study also suggests that intramuscular temperature could potentially be used as a robust proxy for active tension generation; however, further investigation must be done.
Recommended Citation
Bourque, Marie Claire, "The use of intramuscular temperature as an in-vivo proxy measure of skeletal muscle force production in rat gastrocnemius muscle" (2008). Digitized Theses. 4434.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/4434