Clarification of terms in the OpenSim documentation

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Humans Clinic
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Clarification of terms in the OpenSim documentation

Post by Humans Clinic » Tue Dec 21, 2021 4:22 am

I am not an expert in biomechanics, please pardon me if you find my question too basic, or if it doesn't make sense. Actually I am kind of using OpenSim to learn biomechanics.

In the documentation on the forward problem on "How It Works", I see what theories and equations the software uses to predict/simulate the kinematics of a human model from certain inputs. Please allow me to clarify if this is correct:

Muscle activation is not the same as muscle excitation.
EMG is the the experimental equivalent/operationalisation of the concept of "muscle excitation"
Muscle activation is synonymous to force produced

Are they correct?

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Thomas Uchida
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Re: Clarification of terms in the OpenSim documentation

Post by Thomas Uchida » Tue Dec 21, 2021 9:44 pm

There is some information on this topic in the "Muscle Model Theory and Publications" section of the documentation (https://simtk-confluence.stanford.edu:8 ... blications). Please see, in particular, the "First-Order Activation Dynamics" page (https://simtk-confluence.stanford.edu:8 ... n+Dynamics) and the references listed at the bottom of that page.

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