TY - JOUR A1 - Schaefer, Laura V. A1 - Bittmann, Frank N. T1 - Parkinson patients without tremor show changed patterns of mechanical muscle oscillations during a specific bilateral motor task compared to controls JF - Scientific Reports N2 - The pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease (PD) is still not understood. There are investigations which show a changed oscillatory behaviour of brain circuits or changes in variability of, e.g., gait parameters in PD. The aim of this study was to investigate whether or not the motor output differs between PD patients and healthy controls. Thereby, patients without tremor are investigated in the medication off state performing a special bilateral isometric motor task. The force and accelerations (ACC) were recorded as well as the Mechanomyography (MMG) of the biceps brachii, the brachioradialis and of the pectoralis major muscles using piezoelectric-sensors during the bilateral motor task at 60% of the maximal isometric contraction. The frequency, a specific power ratio, the amplitude variation and the slope of amplitudes were analysed. The results indicate that the oscillatory behaviour of motor output in PD patients without tremor deviates from controls: thereby, the 95%-confidence-intervals of power ratio and of amplitude variation of all signals are disjoint between PD and controls and show significant differences in group comparisons (power ratio: p = 0.000–0.004, r = 0.441–0.579; amplitude variation: p = 0.000–0.001, r = 0.37–0.67). The mean frequency shows a significant difference for ACC (p = 0.009, r = 0.43), but not for MMG. It remains open, whether this muscular output reflects changes of brain circuits and whether the results are reproducible and specific for PD. Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-57766-5 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 10 PB - Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Schaefer, Laura V. A1 - Bittmann, Frank T1 - Mechanotendography in Achillodynia shows reduced oscillation variability of pre-loaded Achilles tendon BT - a pilot study JF - European Journal of Translational Myology (EJTM) N2 - The present study focuses on an innovative approach in measuring the mechanical oscillations of pre-loaded Achilles tendon by using Mechanotendography (MTG) during application of a short yet powerful mechanical pressure impact. This was applied on the forefoot from the plantar side in direction of dorsiflexion, while the subject stood on the ball of the forefoot on one leg. Participants with Achilles tendinopathy (AT; n = 10) were compared to healthy controls (Con; n = 10). Five trials were performed on each side of the body. For evaluation, two intervals after the impulse began (0-100ms; 30-100ms) were cut from the MTG and pressure raw signals. The intrapersonal variability between the five trials in both intervals were evaluated using the arithmetic mean and coefficient of variation of the mean correlation (Spearman rank correlation) and the normalized averaged mean distances, respectively. The AT-group showed a significantly reduced variability in MTG compared to the Con-group (from p = 0.006 to p = 0.028 for different parameters). The 95% confidence intervals (CI) of MTG results were disjoint, whereas the 95% CIs of the pressure signals were similar (p = 0.192 to p = 0.601). We suggest from this work that the variability of mechanical tendon oscillations could be an indicative parameter of an altered Achilles tendon functionality. KW - Mechanotendography KW - mechanical tendinous oscillations KW - variability KW - impact on pre-activated Achilles tendon Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.4081/ejtm.2020.8983 SN - 2037-7460 VL - 30 IS - 2 SP - 247 EP - 257 PB - Unipress CY - Padova ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Dech, Silas A1 - Bittmann, Frank N. A1 - Schaefer, Laura V. T1 - Muscle oxygenation and time to task failure of submaximal holding and pulling isometric muscle actions and influence of intermittent voluntary muscle twitches JF - BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation N2 - Background Isometric muscle actions can be performed either by initiating the action, e.g., pulling on an immovable resistance (PIMA), or by reacting to an external load, e.g., holding a weight (HIMA). In the present study, it was mainly examined if these modalities could be differentiated by oxygenation variables as well as by time to task failure (TTF). Furthermore, it was analyzed if variables are changed by intermittent voluntary muscle twitches during weight holding (Twitch). It was assumed that twitches during a weight holding task change the character of the isometric muscle action from reacting (≙ HIMA) to acting (≙ PIMA). Methods Twelve subjects (two drop outs) randomly performed two tasks (HIMA vs. PIMA or HIMA vs. Twitch, n = 5 each) with the elbow flexors at 60% of maximal torque maintained until muscle failure with each arm. Local capillary venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) and relative hemoglobin amount (rHb) were measured by light spectrometry. Results Within subjects, no significant differences were found between tasks regarding the behavior of SvO2 and rHb, the slope and extent of deoxygenation (max. SvO2 decrease), SvO2 level at global rHb minimum, and time to SvO2 steady states. The TTF was significantly longer during Twitch and PIMA (incl. Twitch) compared to HIMA (p = 0.043 and 0.047, respectively). There was no substantial correlation between TTF and maximal deoxygenation independently of the task (r = − 0.13). Conclusions HIMA and PIMA seem to have a similar microvascular oxygen and blood supply. The supply might be sufficient, which is expressed by homeostatic steady states of SvO2 in all trials and increases in rHb in most of the trials. Intermittent voluntary muscle twitches might not serve as a further support but extend the TTF. A changed neuromuscular control is discussed as possible explanation. KW - Oxygen saturation KW - Microvascular blood filling KW - Isometric contraction KW - Isometric muscle action KW - Holding isometric muscle action KW - Pulling isometric muscle action KW - Pushing isometric muscle action KW - Time to task failure KW - Muscle twitch Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13102-022-00447-9 SN - 1758-2555 VL - 55 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Springer Nature CY - London ER -