Application of Consistent Massage-Like Perturbations on Mouse Calves and Monitoring the Resulting Intramuscular Pressure ChangesNaoyoshi Sakitani *1, Takahiro Maekawa *1, Kumiko Saitou 1,2, Katsuhiko Suzuki 3, Shuhei Murase 1,4, Masakuni Tokunaga 1, Daisuke Yoshino 5, Keisuke Sawada 6, Atsushi Takashima 7, Motoshi Nagao 1, Toru Ogata 1, Yasuhiro Sawada 1,8
1Department of Rehabilitation for Motor Functions, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 2Graduate School of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, 3Faculty of Sport Sciences, Waseda University, 4Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, 5Frontier Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Tohoku University, 6University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 7Department of Assistive Technology, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities, 8Department of Clinical Research, National Rehabilitation Center for Persons with Disabilities
Here we describe the protocols for applying defined mechanical loads to mouse calves and for monitoring the concomitant intramuscular pressure changes. The experimental systems that we have developed can be useful for investigating the mechanism behind the beneficial effects of physical exercise and massage.