A registration strategy to characterize DTI-observed changes in skeletal muscle architecture due to passive shortening

Hooijmans, Melissa T.; Lockard, Carly A.; Zhou, Xingyu; Coolbaugh, Crystal; Guzman, Roberto P.; Kersh, Mariana E.; Damon, Bruce M.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/126682 Copy

Description

Title

A registration strategy to characterize DTI-observed changes in skeletal muscle architecture due to passive shortening

Author(s)

• Hooijmans, Melissa T.
• Lockard, Carly A.
• Zhou, Xingyu
• Coolbaugh, Crystal
• Guzman, Roberto P.
• Kersh, Mariana E.
• Damon, Bruce M.

Issue Date

2025-03-10

Keyword(s)

Skeletal muscle architecture

Date of Ingest

2025-03-20T12:12:31-05:00

Abstract

Skeletal muscle architecture is a key determinant of muscle function. Architectural properties such as fascicle length, pennation angle, and curvature can be characterized using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), but acquiring these data during a contraction is not currently feasible. However, an image registration-based strategy may be able to convert muscle architectural properties observed at rest to their contracted state. As an initial step toward this long-term objective, the aim of this study was to determine if an image registration strategy could be used to convert the whole-muscle average architectural properties observed in the extended joint position to those of a flexed position, following passive rotation. DTI and high-resolution fat/water scans were acquired in the lower leg of seven healthy participants on a 3T MR system in + 20° and −10° ankle positions. The diffusion and anatomical images from the two positions were used to propagate DTI fiber-tracts from seed points along a mesh representation of the aponeurosis of fiber insertion. The −10° and + 20° anatomical images were registered and the displacement fields were used to transform the mesh and fiber-tracts from the + 20° to the −10° position. Student’s paired t-tests were used to compare the mean architectural parameters between the original and transformed fiber-tracts. The whole-muscle average fiber-tract length, pennation angle, curvature, and physiological cross-sectional areas estimates did not differ significantly. DTI fiber-tracts in plantarflexion can be transformed to dorsiflexion position without significantly affecting the average architectural characteristics of the fiber-tracts. In the future, a similar approach could be used to evaluate muscle architecture in a contracted state.

Publisher

Public Library of Science

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

article

Language

eng

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1371/ journal.pone.0302675

Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)

• National Institute of Health R01 AR073831
• National Institute of Health S10 OD021771

Copyright and License Information

• © 2025 Hooijmans et al.
• Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International (CCBY 4.0)

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