Establishing a method for assessment of muscle hardness

本研究采用超声实时组织弹性成像技术测定了足底屈肌的肌肉硬度，并检测了两种已知硬度的定制组织模拟材料及其与肌肉力量和体积的关系。结果表明，无被动张力时的肌肉硬度与肌肉大小有关，而与肌肉力量无关。因此，我们认为个体间肌肉强度的差异不受肌肉硬度差异的显著影响。

In this study, the muscle hardness of the plantar flexors was determined using ultrasound real-time tissue elastography and two types of custom-made tissue mimicking materials of known hardness and its relations with muscle strength and volume were examined. It was shown that the muscle hardness with no passive tension depends on the muscle size but does not relate to the muscle strength. Thus, it is suggested that interindividual differences in muscle strength per size are not significantly influenced by differences in muscle hardness.