Achilles is more than just one tendon

NewsBot · Nov 20, 2017

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Achilles is more than just one tendon
The Achilles tendon is the strongest tendon in the human body. It can bear loads exceeding over 900 kilograms during running. Despite its strength, it is prone to injuries and it is not yet well known what factors predict good or bad recovery from injuries.
Studies with the measurement of Achilles tendon forces have proved that loading may not be distributed evenly throughout the entire cross-sectional area of the tendon. This is possible because the Achilles serves as a common tendon for three calf muscles, which all have different properties and functions.

The soleus muscle extends and flexes only the ankle joint but the gastrocnemius muscle (medial and lateral heads) also flexes the knee. Due to this, different parts of the Achilles tendon may move in relation to each other. The investigation of movements within the Achilles tendon helps to understand its normal and abnormal function and give insight on research related to tendon injuries.

Professor of Kinesiology Taija Juutinen Finni from the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, together with international collaborators, has studied Achilles tendon function in an animal model. The experiments were performed at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam with Dr. Huub Maas. The research results were published in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports.

The research showed for the first time that relative movements within the tendon were associated with the underlying tendon anatomy. Further, the study found that loading the soleus muscle lengthens its respective subtendon more than when loading the gastrocnemius muscle. The results indicate that the subtendons have different stiffness.

The observation in rats helps to explain some of the reported results in human experiments. It may be possible that the different stiffness of tendons helps to maximise the storage and use of elastic energy in walking, running and jumping, in which the roles of the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles are slightly different.

Publication information:
Taija Finni, Michel Bernabei, Guus C. Baan, Wendy Noort, Chris Tijs, and Huub Maas: “Nonuniform displacement and strain between the soleus and gastrocnemius subtendons of rat Achilles tendon” in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 11/2017, doi: 10.1111/sms.13001

NewsBot · Nov 20, 2017

Nonuniform displacement and strain between the soleus and gastrocnemius subtendons of rat Achilles tendon
Taija Finni, Michel Bernabei, Guus C. Baan, Wendy Noort, Chris Tijs, and Huub Maas:
Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports,

Achilles tendon (AT) comprises of three subtendons arising from the soleus (SOL) and the lateral (LG) and medial (MG) heads of the gastrocnemius muscle. While recent human studies show differential displacement within AT, these displacement have not been attributed to specific subtendons. We tested the hypothesis that the SOL and LG subtendons show differential displacement and strain during various combinations of SOL, LG and MG excitations. Movement of knots, sutured onto SOL and LG subtendons of 12 Wistar rats, was videotaped while the muscles were stimulated intramuscularly and ankle torque was assessed. When SOL only was stimulated, the plantar flexion torque was the smallest among the different conditions (P<0.001). In this condition, from passive to active state, the displacement (0.57 vs. 0.47 mm, P=0.002) and strain (8.4 vs. 2.4%, P<0.001) in the SOL subtendon was greater than in LG subtendon. When LG only was stimulated, a higher ankle torque was measured as compared to SOL stimulation (P<0.001); the displacement was similar in both subtendons (~0.6mm) while the strain was greater in LG than in SOL (4.7 vs. 1.7%, P<0.001). When all three muscles were stimulated simultaneously, ankle torque was highest and the displacement (0.79 vs. 0.74 mm, P=0.002) and strain (7.7 vs. 4.4%, P=0.003) were greater in SOL than in LG. These data show that the different subtendons of AT can experience relative displacement and differential strains. Together with anatomical dissections, the results revealed that such uniformities may be due to a lower stiffness of SOL subtendon compared to LG.
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mike weber · Jan 28, 2018

We knew it was 2 if you follow the Hall research 'e Achilles compression. But 3 ... crazy it is 2018 and we are still finding out stuff like this

Achilles is more than just one tendon

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Achilles is more than just one tendon

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