
A myograph is any device used to measure the force produced by a muscle when under contraction. Such a device is commonly used in
myography, the study of the velocity and intensity of
muscular contraction
Muscle contraction is the activation of tension-generating sites within muscle cells. In physiology, muscle contraction does not necessarily mean muscle shortening because muscle tension can be produced without changes in muscle length, such as ...
.
A myograph can take several forms: for tubular structures such as
blood vessels
Blood vessels are the structures of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away fro ...
these include the pressure myograph (where a segment of a blood vessel is cannulated at either or both ends) and the wire myograph (where the blood vessel segment is threaded onto a pair of pins or wires); for skeletal muscle other devices such as the
acceleromyograph can be used.
In
pharmacology
Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous (from within the body) molecule which exerts a biochemi ...
, myographs are used to record muscle contraction in
organ bath preparations.
The related technique of
electromyography
Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph to produce a record called an electromyogram. An electromyo ...
is used to measure electrical activity of the muscle instead of force.
References
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External links
Information on microvessel studies(wire myograph)
Various types of blood vessel myographsBlood vessel myographs
Exercise physiology