Mouse Skeletal Muscle Architecture as Measured Using Three Dimensional Diffusion Tensor Imaging

Mechanisms of force loss that occur during progressive muscular diseases are increasingly studied using genetically modified mice. Such diseases generally cause both a decrease in maximal tension and progressive muscle wasting which results in changes in muscle architecture. Since this architecture is a main determinant of the mechanical behavior of skeletal muscle [1], one must know this architecture in order to determine the actual loss in muscle performance. The muscle organization is characterized by various parameters, including fiber length, pennation angle, and physiological cross-sectional area (PCSA). The determination of these parameters by traditional anatomical reconstruction is destructive and extremely time consuming. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop methods for determining the in vivo three-dimensional architecture of mouse skeletal muscle, using diffusion-tensor MRI.

@Misc { HSVDN05a,
  author       = "Heemskerk, A.M. and Strijkers, G.J. and Vilanova, Anna and Drost, M.R. and Nicolay, K.",
  title        = "Mouse Skeletal Muscle Architecture as Measured Using Three Dimensional Diffusion Tensor Imaging",
  year         = "2005",
  url          = "http://graphics.tudelft.nl/Publications-new/2005/HSVDN05a"
}