A Method for Identification of Mechanical Response of Motor Units in Skeletal Muscle Voluntary Contractions Using Ultrafast Ultrasound Imaging—Simulations and Experimental Tests

The central nervous system coordinates movement through forces generated by motor units (MUs) in skeletal muscles. To analyze MUs function is essential in sports, rehabilitation medicine applications, and neuromuscular diagnostics. The MUs and their function are studied using electromyography. Typically, these methods study only a small muscle volume (1 mm
³
) or only a superficial (<1 cm) volume of the muscle. Here we introduce a method to identify so-called mechanical units, i.e., the mechanical response of electrically active MUs, in the whole muscle (
$4\times 4$
cm, cross-sectional) under voluntary contractions by ultrafast ultrasound imaging and spatiotemporal decomposition. We evaluate the performance of the method by simulation of active MUs’ mechanical response under weak contractions. We further test the experimental feasibility on eight healthy subjects. We show the existence of mechanical units that contribute to the tissue dynamics in the biceps brachii at low force levels and that these units are similar to MUs described by electromyography with respect to the number of units, territory sizes, and firing rates. This study introduces a new potential neuromuscular functional imaging method, which could be used to study a variety of questions on muscle physiology that previously were difficult or not possible to address.