In Vivo Muscle Mechanics during Locomotion - II

国际和平研究所提出的这项研究将调查动物在飞行和地面步态中如何使用肌肉为运动提供动力。肌肉功能的分析将与肌腱的机械作用有关，以节省弹性能量，并分析肌腱所附着的骨骼元素的设计和载荷。这些研究将使用最先进的技术进行，可以在活体动物身上直接测量肌肉力量、肌肉缩短和骨骼应变。这些活体测量将允许PI测试关于肌肉功能的假设，例如均匀的纤维缩短，这些假设必须使用更传统的间接方法进行。这些研究目标将产生关于动物运动中肌肉功能如何与肌肉纤维的结构组织和生理特性相关的重要基本信息。这些信息将对更好地理解运动对脊椎动物肌肉骨骼功能的影响以及控制运动的神经肌肉基础具有重要意义。它还可能对应用领域产生重要的技术见解，如机器人和物理治疗设备的设计。

The research proposed by the PI will investigate how animals use their muscles to power their movement, both during flight and terrestrial gait. Muscle function will be analyzed in relation to the mechanical role of tendons for elastic energy savings and the design and loading of bone elements to which they attach. These studies will be carried out using state-of-the-art techniques that allow direct measurements of muscle force, muscle shortening and bone strain to be made in living animals. These in vivo measurements will allow the PI to test assumptions about muscle function, such as uniform fiber shortening, that have had to be made using more traditional indirect approaches. The research objectives will yield important basic information concerning how muscle function during animal movement relates to the strucutral organization and physiological properties of the muscle's fibers. This information will have importance for developing a better understanding of exercise-related influences on musculoskeletal function in vertebrate animals and the neuromuscular basis for controlling movement. It is also likely to yield important technological insight into applied areas, such as robotics and the design of physical therapeutic devices.