A mathematical model for the steady activation of a skeletal muscle
- Gabriel, Jean-Pierre Department of Mathematics, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
- Studer, L. M. Department of Computer Science and Economics, University of Applied Sciences, Sierre, Switzerland
- Rüegg, Dieter Department of Medicine, Division of Physiology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
- Schnetzer, M.-A. Department of Mathematics, University of Applied Sciences, Fribourg,Switzerland
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25.01.2008
Published in:
- SIAM Journal on Applied Mathematics. - 2008, vol. 68, no. 3, p. 869-889
English
A skeletal muscle is composed of motor units, each consisting of a motoneuron and the muscle fibers it innervates. The input to the motor units is formed of electrical signals coming from higher motor centers and propagated to the motoneurons along a network of nerve fibers. Because of its complexity, this network still escapes actual direct observations. The present model describes the steady state activation of a muscle, i.e., of its motor units. It incorporates the network as an unknown quantity and, given the latter, predicts the input-force relation (activation curve) of the muscle. Conversely, given a suitable activation curve, our model enables the recovery of the network. This step is performed by using experimental data about the activation curve, and the whole activation process of a muscle can then be theoretically investigated. In this way, this approach provides a link between the macroscopic (activation curve) and microscopic (network) levels. From a mathematical viewpoint, solving the preceding inverse problem is equivalent to solving an integral equation of a new type.
- Faculty
- Faculté des sciences et de médecine
- Department
- Département de Mathématiques, Département de Médecine
- Language
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- English
- Classification
- Mathematics
- License
- License undefined
- Identifiers
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- RERO DOC 10544
- DOI 10.1137/05064271X
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/300755
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