Key result
Huxley's muscle model predicted more realistic patterns of muscle activation compared to Hill's model, though both estimated overall muscle forces within the same range.
For assessing overall muscle forces during motion, Hill's model provides similar force estimates to Huxley's model but is computationally simpler.
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Hill's model may suffice for force estimates in motion analysis; leaves open whether Huxley's activation patterns improve musculoskeletal simulations.
Determination of muscle forces in individual muscles is often essential to assess optimal performance of human motion. Inverse dynamic methods based on the kinematics of the given motion and on the use of optimisation approach are the most widely used for muscle force estimation. The aim of this study was to estimate how the choice of muscle model influences predicted muscle forces. Huxley's (1957, Prog Biophys Biop Chem. 7: 255-318) and Hill's (1938, Proc R Soc B. 126: 136-195) muscle models were used for determination of muscle forces of two antagonistic muscles of the lower extremity during cycling. Huxley's model is a complex model that couples biochemical and physical processes with the microstructure of the muscle whereas the Hill's model is a phenomenological model. Muscle forces predicted by both models are within the same range. Huxley's model predicts more realistic patterns of muscle activation but it is computationally more demanding. Therefore, if the overall muscle forces are to be assessed, it is reasonable to use a simpler implementation based on Hill's model.
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Čadová et al. (2012) studied this question. Huxley's muscle model vs. Hill's muscle model was evaluated on Muscle force estimation. Huxley's muscle model predicted more realistic patterns of muscle activation compared to Hill's model, though both estimated overall muscle forces within the same range.
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