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Atlas of the muscle motor points for the lower limb: implications for electrical stimulation procedures and electrode positioning

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the uniformity of the muscle motor point location for lower limb muscles in healthy subjects. Fifty-three subjects of both genders (age range: 18–50 years) were recruited. The muscle motor points were identified for the following ten muscles of the lower limb (dominant side): vastus medialis, rectus femoris, and vastus lateralis of the quadriceps femoris, biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus of the hamstring muscles, tibialis anterior, peroneus longus, lateral and medial gastrocnemius. The muscle motor point was identified by scanning the skin surface with a stimulation pen electrode and corresponded to the location of the skin area above the muscle in which an electrical pulse evoked a muscle twitch with the least injected current. For each investigated muscle, 0.15 ms square pulses were delivered through the pen electrode at low current amplitude (<10 mA) and frequency (2 Hz). 16 motor points were identified in the 10 investigated muscles of almost all subjects: 3 motor points for the vastus lateralis, 2 motor points for rectus femoris, vastus medialis, biceps femoris, and tibialis anterior, 1 motor point for the remaining muscles. An important inter-individual variability was observed for the position of the following 4 out of 16 motor points: vastus lateralis (proximal), biceps femoris (short head), semimembranosus, and medial gastrocnemius. Possible implications for electrical stimulation procedures and electrode positioning different from those commonly applied for thigh and leg muscles are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

Musculoskeletal Images are from the University of Washington “Musculoskeletal Atlas: A Musculoskeletal Atlas of the Human Body” by Carol Teitz, M.D. and Dan Graney, Ph.D. Copyright 2003–2004 University of Washington. All rights reserved including all photographs and images. No re-use, re-distribution or commercial use without prior written permission of the authors and the University of Washington. The authors are grateful to Prof. R. Merletti (LISiN, Politecnico di Torino, Italy) for his careful review of the final version of the manuscript and to Dr. D. Antista (School of Motor Sciences, Turin, Italy) for his valuable assistance in subject recruitment and evaluation. This study was supported by Regional Health Administration Project “Ricerca Sanitaria Finalizzata 2009” and by bank foundations “Compagnia di San Paolo” (Project “Neuromuscular Investigation and Conditioning in Endocrine Myopathy”), “Fondazione Cariplo” (Project “Steroid myopathy: Molecular, Histopathological, and Electrophysiological Characterization”) and “Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Saluzzo”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Engineering of the Neuromuscular System (LISiN), Department of Electronics, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy

    Alberto Botter, Gianmosè Oprandi & Marco Alessandro Minetto

  2. Division of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Molinette Hospital, University of Turin, C.so Dogliotti 14, 10126, Turin, Italy

    Fabio Lanfranco, Stefano Allasia & Marco Alessandro Minetto

  3. Neuromuscular Research Laboratory, Schulthess Clinic, Zurich, Switzerland

    Nicola A. Maffiuletti

Authors
  1. Alberto Botter
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  2. Gianmosè Oprandi
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  3. Fabio Lanfranco
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  4. Stefano Allasia
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  5. Nicola A. Maffiuletti
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  6. Marco Alessandro Minetto
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Correspondence to Marco Alessandro Minetto.

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Communicated by Roberto Bottinelli.

This article is published as part of the Special Issue Cluster on the XVIII Congress of the International Society of Electrophysiology and Kinesiology (ISEK 2010) that took place in Aalborg, Denmark on 16–19 June 2010.

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Botter, A., Oprandi, G., Lanfranco, F. et al. Atlas of the muscle motor points for the lower limb: implications for electrical stimulation procedures and electrode positioning. Eur J Appl Physiol 111, 2461–2471 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-2093-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-2093-y

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