A rat model for controlling and quantifying voluntary muscle performance of upper extremities.

Wirth-O; Cutlip-RG

Proceedings of the International Society of Biomechanics XVIII Congress, July 8-13, 2001, Zurich, Switzerland. H Gerber and R Muller, eds., New York: Pergamon Press, 2001 Jul; :1-3

20021488

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a major health concern of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and a National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) priority. Musculoskeletal disorders represent a broad category of injuries and illnesses of the upper and lower extremities. Claims of MSDs in the workplace often are associated with repetitive manual work in business and industry. It has been argued, however, that quantitative exposure-response relations between physical load factors and MSDs are largely unknown (Viikari-Juntura, 1997). Fundamental questions remain about the safe or acceptable limits of repetitive work (e.g., how many repititions are too much?) One problem concerns the difficulty in analyzing the factors associated with muscle injury in highly controlled, laboratory studies. Existing physiological models of muscle pathomechanics and adaptation are often limited by their requirements for invasive procedures or by their focus on muscle actions that are not applicable to real-world settings. The scientific literature indicates that animal models are appropriate for the study of skeletal muscle, as the micro-architecture of rodent and human skeletal muscle are quite similar. The use of a rat model also can allow for controlled biomechanical exposures, rigorous histological and biochemical analysis of the muscle tissue, and controlled experimental conditions necessary to conduct a parametric investigations of factors associated with chronic contraction-induced injury. The present paper describes the application of operant conditioning to establish controlled voluntary movements in an animal model.

Laboratory-animals; Animals; Animal-studies; Muscles; Musculoskeletal-system-disorders; Injuries; Workers; Worker-health; Occupational-exposure; Models; Physiological-testing; Biomechanical-modeling; Biochemical-analysis; Muscle-tissue

20010101

Conference/Symposia Proceedings

Gerber-H; Muller-R

2001

DSR

Proceedings of the International Society of Biomechanics XVIII Congress

WV