Abstract #3272

In Vivo Muscle Fiber Curvature Measurements using DT-MRI

Anneriet Heemskerk^1,2, Zhaohua Ding^1,3, Tuhin Sinha^1,4, Kevin J. Wilson³, Bruce M. Damon^1,3

¹Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States; ²Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands; ³Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States; ⁴Radiology, UC-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

Muscle fiber curvature is an important architectural parameter that may affect pressure development and perfusion patterns during contraction. Here we show the capability of measuring fiber curvature using DT-MRI fiber tracking data, the improvement in the estimates by using fiber tract smoothing methods, and the changes in curvature that result from changes in muscle-tendon unit length.