Architecture of muscle tissue and its adaptation to pathological conditions

Abstract Muscle architecture is an important determinant for force generation. Muscle force is strongly related to physiological cross sectional while the muscle velocity is proportional to the fiber length. Depending on the loading type, muscle changes its whole structure. Understanding the architectural features provides deep knowledge not only to understand mechanical adaptation and injury mechanisms but also developing architecture based treatment approaches. With the development of imaging techniques, muscle architecture has been involved in researches for many years. However, there are still many unexplained issues. Until now, there is no clear muscle architecture based approach with exception of tendon transfers. Rehabilitation approaches including stretching and neuromuscular electrical stimulation are still devoid of this concept. This chapter describes the important terms in muscle architecture and suggests key points for the well-known methods in literature.