Skeletal muscle rheology based on cross-bridge mechanism

A set of constitutive equations is developed for skeletal muscle fibers by considering the statistical mechanics of cross-bridge action. Models with distinctly different mechanisms of cross-bridge action have been developed previously. All these models contain the cross-bridge extension x as an internal variable in their equations, which introduces considerable difficulties in numerical computations. The author seeks an alternative approach to eliminate the microscopic state variable x from the muscle contraction equations. The author solves the cross-bridge equations for a two-state model exactly by using piecewise-constant rate functions. The mathematical formulation of the model is given.<>