Function of the triceps surae

NewsBot · Jan 16, 2007

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An exploration of the function of the triceps surae during normal gait using functional electrical stimulation.
Gait Posture. 2007 Jan 12;
Stewart C, Postans N, Schwartz MH, Rozumalski A, Roberts A

Gastrocnemius and soleus have a common tendon and both are active during stance phase, where they are thought to arrest and control tibial advance. Soleus is associated with the production of an extending moment at the knee. The two-joint gastrocnemius, which crosses the knee joint, will have an additional contribution to the knee flexors. Recent work using induced acceleration analysis (IAA) has demonstrated distinct differences between the actions of gastrocnemius and soleus. This study aims to use gait analysis to provide in vivo examination of these theoretical predictions. Functional electrical stimulation (FES) was chosen to provide a perturbation in muscle force, a close physical analogue to the theoretical predictions of IAA. Five adult male subjects, with no gait problems, participated. Each had gastrocnemius and soleus stimulated at three different timings during normal gait, while 3D gait data were collected. The order of testing was randomised and unstimulated trials were randomly interspersed to act as a control. The results show very different actions for soleus (ankle plantarflexing/knee extending) and gastrocnemius (ankle dorsiflexing/knee flexing) in stance phase. The counterintuitive nature of the action of gastrocnemius suggests that further clinical and biomechanical investigation into this muscle's function is required. The actions of both muscles at the knee confirm published IAA predictions. In vivo evidence such as this gives greater confidence when using model predictions. The approach adopted in this study could eventually be extended to other muscles and patient populations.
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Admin2 · Jan 17, 2007

Related thread:
Muscle function in running vs walking

NewsBot · Jan 22, 2013

The Functional Role of the Triceps Surae Muscle during Human Locomotion
Jean-Louis Honeine, Marco Schieppati, Olivier Gagey, Manh-Cuong Do
PLoS ONE 8(1): e52943. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0052943; 2013

Aim
Despite numerous studies addressing the issue, it remains unclear whether the triceps surae muscle group generates forward propulsive force during gait, commonly identified as ‘push-off’. In order to challenge the push-off postulate, one must probe the effect of varying the propulsive force while annulling the effect of the progression velocity. This can be obtained by adding a load to the subject while maintaining the same progression velocity.

Methods
Ten healthy subjects initiated gait in both unloaded and loaded conditions (about 30% of body weight attached at abdominal level), for two walking velocities, spontaneous and fast. Ground reaction force and EMG activity of soleus and gastrocnemius medialis and lateralis muscles of the stance leg were recorded. Centre of mass velocity and position, centre of pressure position, and disequilibrium torque were calculated.

Results
At spontaneous velocity, adding the load increased disequilibrium torque and propulsive force. However, load had no effect on the vertical braking force or amplitude of triceps activity. At fast progression velocity, disequilibrium torque, vertical braking force and triceps EMG increased with respect to spontaneous velocity. Still, adding the load did not further increase braking force or EMG.

Conclusions
Triceps surae is not responsible for the generation of propulsive force but is merely supporting the body during walking and restraining it from falling. By controlling the disequilibrium torque, however, triceps can affect the propulsive force through the exchange of potential into kinetic energy.
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Kevin Kirby · Jan 23, 2013

Not everyone agrees with these authors.

Gait Posture. 2008 July; 28(1): 135–143.

The effect of walking speed on muscle function and mechanical energetics

Richard R. Neptune, Kotaro Sasaki, and Steven A. Kautz

Abstract.

Modulating speed over a large range is important in walking, yet understanding how the neuromotor patterns adapt to the changing energetic demands of different speeds is not well understood. The purpose of this study was to identify functional and energetic adaptations in individual muscles in response to walking at faster steady-state speeds using muscle-actuated forward dynamics simulations. The simulation data were invariant with speed as to whether muscles contributed to trunk support, forward propulsion or leg swing. Trunk support (vertical acceleration) was provided primarily by the hip and knee extensors in early stance and the plantar flexors in late stance, while trunk propulsion (horizontal acceleration) was provided primarily by the soleus and rectus femoris in late stance, and these muscle contributions all systematically increased with speed. The results also highlighted the importance of initiating and controlling leg swing as there was a dramatic increase at the higher walking speeds in iliopsoas muscle work to accelerate the leg in pre- and early swing, and an increase in the biarticular hamstring muscle work to decelerate the leg in late swing. In addition, walking near self-selected speeds (1.2 m/s) improves the utilization of elastic energy storage and recovery in the uniarticular ankle plantar flexors and reduces negative fiber work, when compared to faster or slower speeds. These results provide important insight into the neuromotor mechanisms underlying speed regulation in walking and provide the foundation on which to investigate the influence of walking speed on various neuromotor measures of interest in pathological populations.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2409271/

NewsBot · Jul 28, 2013

Assessment of the activation modalities of gastrocnemius lateralis and tibialis anterior during gait: A statistical analysis.
Di Nardo F, Ghetti G, Fioretti S.
J Electromyogr Kinesiol. 2013 Jul 22.

Aim of the study was to identify the different modalities of activation of gastrocnemius lateralis (GL) and tibialis anterior (TA) during gait at self-selected speed, by a statistical analysis of surface electromyographic signal from a large number (hundreds) of strides per subject. The analysis on fourteen healthy adults showed a large variability in the number of activation intervals, in their occurrence rate, and in the on-off instants, within different strides of the same walk. For each muscle, the assessment of the different modalities of activation (five for muscle) allowed to identify a single pattern, common for all the modalities and able to characterize the behavior of muscles during normal gait. The pattern of GL activity centered in two regions of the gait cycle: the transition between flat foot contact and push-off (observed in 100% of total strides) and the final swing (67.1±15.9%). Two regions characterized also the pattern of TA activity: from pre-swing to following loading response (100%), and the mid-stance (30.5±15.0%). This "normality" pattern represents the first attempt for the development in healthy young adults of a reference for dynamic EMG activity of GL and TA, in terms of variability of on-off muscular activity and occurrence rate during gait.
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NewsBot · Sep 3, 2013

How much does the human medial gastrocnemius muscle contribute to ankle torques outside the sagittal plane?
Vieira TM, Minetto MA, Hodson-Tole EF, Botter A.
Hum Mov Sci. 2013 Aug 29.

Ankle movements in the frontal plane are less prominent though not less relevant than movements in the plantar or dorsal flexion direction. Walking on uneven terrains and standing on narrow stances are examples of circumstances likely imposing marked demands on the ankle medio-lateral stabilization. Following our previous evidence associating lateral bodily sways in quiet standing to activation of the medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle, in this study we ask: how large is the MG contribution to ankle torque in the frontal plane? By arranging stimulation electrodes in a selective configuration, current pulses were applied primarily to the MG nerve branch of ten subjects. The contribution of populations of MG motor units of progressively smaller recruitment threshold to ankle torque was evaluated by increasing the stimulation amplitude by fixed amounts. From smallest intensities (12-32mA) leading to the firstly observable MG twitches in force-plate recordings, current pulses reached intensities (56-90mA) below which twitches in other muscles could not be observed from the skin. Key results showed a substantial MG torque contribution tending to rotate upward the foot medial aspect (ankle inversion). Nerve stimulation further revealed a linear relationship between the peak torque of ankle plantar flexion and inversion, across participants (Pearson R>.81, p<.01). Specifically, regardless of the current intensity applied, the peak torque of ankle inversion amounted to about 13% of plantar flexion peak torque. Physiologically, these results provide experimental evidence that MG activation may contribute to stabilize the body in the frontal plane, especially under situations of challenged stability.
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NewsBot · May 21, 2015

In vivo behavior of the human soleus muscle with increasing walking and running speeds
Adrian Lai , Glen A. Lichtwark , Anthony G. Schache , Yi-Chung Lin , Nicholas A. T. Brown , Marcus G. Pandy
Journal of Applied Physiology Published 15 May 2015 Vol. 118 no. 10

The interaction between the muscle fascicle and tendon components of the human soleus (SO) muscle influences the capacity of the muscle to generate force and mechanical work during walking and running. In the present study, ultrasound-based measurements of in vivo SO muscle fascicle behavior were combined with an inverse dynamics analysis to investigate the interaction between the muscle fascicle and tendon components over a broad range of steady-state walking and running speeds: slow-paced walking (0.7 m/s) through to moderate-paced running (5.0 m/s). Irrespective of a change in locomotion mode (i.e., walking vs. running) or an increase in steady-state speed, SO muscle fascicles were found to exhibit minimal shortening compared with the muscle-tendon unit (MTU) throughout stance. During walking and running, the muscle fascicles contributed only 35 and 20% of the overall MTU length change and shortening velocity, respectively. Greater levels of muscle activity resulted in increasingly shorter SO muscle fascicles as locomotion speed increased, both of which facilitated greater tendon stretch and recoil. Thus the elastic tendon contributed the majority of the MTU length change during walking and running. When transitioning from walking to running near the preferred transition speed (2.0 m/s), greater, more economical ankle torque development is likely explained by the SO muscle fascicles shortening more slowly and operating on a more favorable portion (i.e., closer to the plateau) of the force-length curve.
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NewsBot · Jul 2, 2015

Knee and Ankle Joint Angles Influence the Plantarflexion Torque of the Gastrocnemius.
Landin D, Thompson M, Reid M
J Clin Med Res. 2015 Aug;7(8):602-6. doi: 10.14740/jocmr2107w

BACKGROUND:
The gastrocnemius (GA) is the lone bi-articular muscle of the leg, crossing both the knee and ankle. As with any bi-articular muscle, both joints affect its length/tension curve. The role of the GA as a plantarflexor is firmly established; however, no current research has investigated how changes in knee and ankle joint positions on its ability to generate a plantarflexion (PF) torque. This paper reports on the PF force generated by the GA at specific knee and ankle joint combinations.
METHODS:
The right GA of 26 participants was electrically stimulated via surface electrodes following a standardized protocol at 24 knee and ankle joint combinations. Three stimulations were applied at each of the 24 positions. Data were recorded on three dependent measures: the passive moment, which was the PF moment created by the tissue without stimulation, the maximum moment, which was the highest PF moment during the stimulation and included the passive moment, and the stimulated moment, which reflected the PF moment during stimulation minus the passive moment.
RESULTS:
A straight knee and dorsiflexed ankle create the position in which the GA generates the greatest PF moment, but it is also the position of greatest length. This finding is in contrast to conclusions from previous research with bi-articular muscles, which has consistently shown that the greatest length is not a muscle's optimal length. The full ranges of motion for the knee and ankle apparently do not elongate the GA beyond its optimal length for producing a PF moment. Clinicians commonly evaluate GA status with the patient seated and the foot subject to gravity.
CONCLUSIONS:
The present results indicate that manual testing of the GA in isolation should be performed, whenever possible, with the knee extended and the ankle dorsiflexed to potentially elicit the maximum PF torque from the GA.
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NewsBot · Apr 14, 2020

A multiple fascicle muscle force model of the human triceps surae
Loren Z.F.ChiuaTorstein E.DæhlinaJason P.Careyb
Journal of Theoretical Biology; Volume 495, 21 June 2020, 110251

Highlights
•Fascicles from triceps surae are modelled as a distributed force system.
•Directional cosines are used to describe a fascicle's force vector.
•Model outputs include realistic estimates of muscle volumes, forces, and moments.
•Forces are exerted on the aponeuroses in the longitudinal, width, and depth axes.
•Maximum muscle force depends on position where sarcomeres are at optimal length.
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Muscle is typically modelled using a lump sum idealization, scaling a single fascicle to represent the entire muscle. However, fascicles within a muscle have unique orientations, which could result in forces exerted not only in the axis running along the tendon, but also the two perpendicular axes, describing the muscle's width and depth. The purpose of this research was to develop a geometric-based model of the soleus, medial gastrocnemius, and lateral gastrocnemius as distributed force systems which can predict three-dimensional forces. Measurements were taken from the triceps surae in two human cadavers (80 and 85 years old). These models predicted muscle volumes and ankle plantar flexor moments that were realistic considering the age of the cadavers. Small differences were observed in calcaneal tendon force and moment for the distributed force models compared to modelling muscle force using a lump sum idealization. The major finding of the distributed force models was that forces were present in the axes corresponding to the muscle's length, width, and depth. The forces in the width and depth axes may be relevant for evaluating how muscle shape changes during contraction, as well as to investigate stress-strain patterns along the muscle's proximal and distal aponeuroses.
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NewsBot · May 4, 2020

A multiple fascicle muscle force model of the human triceps surae
Loren Z.F.ChiuaTorstein E.DæhlinaJason P.Careyb
Journal of Theoretical Biology; 495, 21 June 2020, 110251

Highlights
•Fascicles from triceps surae are modelled as a distributed force system.
•Directional cosines are used to describe a fascicle's force vector.
•Model outputs include realistic estimates of muscle volumes, forces, and moments.
•Forces are exerted on the aponeuroses in the longitudinal, width, and depth axes.
•Maximum muscle force depends on position where sarcomeres are at optimal length.
Click to expand...

Muscle is typically modelled using a lump sum idealization, scaling a single fascicle to represent the entire muscle. However, fascicles within a muscle have unique orientations, which could result in forces exerted not only in the axis running along the tendon, but also the two perpendicular axes, describing the muscle's width and depth. The purpose of this research was to develop a geometric-based model of the soleus, medial gastrocnemius, and lateral gastrocnemius as distributed force systems which can predict three-dimensional forces. Measurements were taken from the triceps surae in two human cadavers (80 and 85 years old). These models predicted muscle volumes and ankle plantar flexor moments that were realistic considering the age of the cadavers. Small differences were observed in calcaneal tendon force and moment for the distributed force models compared to modelling muscle force using a lump sum idealization. The major finding of the distributed force models was that forces were present in the axes corresponding to the muscle's length, width, and depth. The forces in the width and depth axes may be relevant for evaluating how muscle shape changes during contraction, as well as to investigate stress-strain patterns along the muscle's proximal and distal aponeuroses.
Click to expand...

Function of the triceps surae

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Function of the triceps surae

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Myofascial trigger point therapy for triceps surae dysfunction

Tactile function of the foot in children with upper motor neuron lesions

Human foot form and function

Chasing footprints in time – reframing our understanding of human foot function

Stage 1 PTTD Treatment Plan - Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction

Patient With Early Stage PTTD (Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction)

Low-Lying FHL Muscle Belly in Functional Hallux Limitus

Share This Page

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