Architectural properties of the first dorsal interosseous muscle

Muscle architecture is considered to reflect the function of muscle in vivo, and is important for example to clinicians in designing tendon-transfer and tendon-lengthening surgeries. The purpose of this study was to quantify the architectural properties of the FDI muscle. It is hypothesized that there will be consistency, that is low variability, in the architectural parameters used to describe the first dorsal interosseous muscle because of its clear functional role in index finger motion. The important architectural parameters identified were those required to characterize a muscle adequately by modeling. Specifically the mass, cross-sectional area, and length of the tendon and muscle were measured in cadavers along with the muscle fiber optimum length and pennation angle, and the moment arm of the first dorsal interosseous at the metacarpophalangeal joint. These parameters provide a characterization of the architecture of the first dorsal interosseous, and were used to indicate the inherent variability between samples. The results demonstrated a large amount of variability for all architectural parameters measured; leading to a rejection of the hypothesis. Ratios designed to describe the functioning of the muscles in vivo, for example the ratio of tendon to fiber optimum lengths, also demonstrated a large variability. The results suggest that function cannot be deduced from form for the first dorsal interosseous, and that subject-specific architectural parameters may be necessary for the formulation of accurate musculoskeletal models or making clinical decisions.