Both TMG-BMC’s primary technologies – TMG100 tensiomyography and MC sensors – accurately measure the perpendicular forces generated by the radial displacement of a muscle belly during contraction. A recent study from the University of Washington’s Physiology and Biophysics department suggests our technologies describe crucial mechanical properties of skeletal muscle which more accurately explain the length tension relationships.

David Williams et al. propose a new model of contraction based on 3D sarcomere geometry in which actin and myosin are hexagonally packed. Results suggest that the radial distance between actin and myosin filaments – referred to as filament lattice spacing – may be responsible for up to 50% of the change in force seen between sarcomere lengths. The authors conclude that lattice spacing, which influences radial deformation of the muscle during contraction, is an important force regulator that increases the amplitude of muscles’ force-length dependence.

These important findings support the notion that during contraction, energy in muscle’s support structures is not only stored in the direction of force but also perpendicular to it, in the direction of the radial displacement of muscle. Both TMG100 tensiomyography and TMG PRO accurately describe the radial displacement of muscle during contraction and therefore provide crucial insights into mechanical properties of skeletal muscle on a systemic level and possibly provide a more accurate representation of skeletal muscle’s length tension relationships.