Characteristics of Tetanic Force Produced by the Sternomastoid Muscle of the Rat

Figure 1

A diagram of the data acquisition system, which provides electrical stimulation and records muscle force. Note that a dell laptop with user written software in Labview 8.2 is used to control the experiment. The SM muscle is detached from its rostral tendon and attached to the lever of servomotor, which controls muscle stretch and measures muscle force. Electrical stimulation with parameters controlled by LabView software (National Instruments) is generated by the Multifunctional board 6251 (National Instruments) and delivered to the SM nerve. Data are analyzed off line with DIAdem 11.0 software (National Instruments).