Korean J Sports Med.  2017 Dec;35(3):181-189. 10.5763/kjsm.2017.35.3.181.

Analysis of Lower Extremity Contraction According to Gender Using Tensiomyography

• Kim BK
• Chai JH
• Kim C
• Kim CH
• Bae SW

• KMID: 2397813
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5763/kjsm.2017.35.3.181

Abstract

Tensiomyography (TMG) is used to evaluate the contraction characteristics of the thigh muscles according to gender. Our hypothesis is that male's maximal displacement (Dm) will be lower than the control because the Dm increases when the muscle becomes stiff or hypertrophied. TMG evaluated 15 males and 12 females. The biceps femoris, semitendinosus, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and rectus femoris were evaluated. The TMG parameters obtained for each muscle were Dm and contraction time (Tc). And we calculated contraction velocity (Vc) as the rate of the radial displacement occurring during the time period of Tc with respect to Tc. Dm and Vc values of biceps femoris muscles were significantly lower in males than in controls, whereas Dm and Vc values of vastus medialis muscles were significantly lower in females than males. The Tc values of males were significantly higher in right and bilateral sum than females. This is the first report on TMG assessment by gender. We found that it is the most effective in finding muscle contraction characteristics according to gender and can induce the difference between the Dm and Vc of each muscle.

Keyword

Contraction velocity; Gender; Maximal displacement; Tensiomyography

MeSH Terms

Female
Humans
Lower Extremity*
Male
Muscle Contraction
Muscles
Quadriceps Muscle
Thigh

Figure

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  Fig. 1 System components of tensiomyography (TMG) include electrical stimulator, electrodes, TMG sensor, and user interface.

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  Fig. 2 (A) Tensiomyography record with parameters' definitions. (B) Tensiomyography assessment in the vastus medialis. Tc: contraction time, Dm: maximal displacement.

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  Fig. 3 Tensiomyography assessment in the (A) vastus lateralis and (B) biceps femoris.

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  Fig. 4 Comparison of maximal displacement between male and female. VM: vastus medialis, L: left site, R: right site, S: sum of right and left site, BF: biceps femoris. *p<.05, **p<.01, ***p<.001.

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  Fig. 5 Comparison of contraction time between male and female. VM: vastus medialis, L: left site, R: right site, S: sum of right and left site, BF: biceps femoris. **p<0.01.

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  Fig. 6 Comparison of contraction velocity between male and female. VM: vastus medialis, L: left site, R: right site, S: sum of right and left site, BF: biceps femoris. **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.

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  Fig. 7 Representative tensiomyography records of male and control groups. VM: vastus medialis, BF: biceps femoris.

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