Eric Barnhill1,
Paul Kennedy1, Edwin van Beek1, Colin Brown2,
Neil Roberts1
1Clinical
Research Imaging Centre, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Midlothian,
United Kingdom; 2Research and Development, The Mentholatum
Company, East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, United Kingdom
A new image processing pipeline for Magnetic Resonance Elastography, MRE-J, was used to create pixel-by-pixel maps of multiple viscoelastic properties of a transverse slice of thigh skeletal muscle in resting state. The images were consistent across multiple acquisitions and captured individual variation in resting state muscle activation. The maps allow for the quantitative mapping of neuromuscular activation patterns through all muscles of a limb. Future work will use this protocol to evaluate, target and help develop topical treatments, therapeutic techniques and training regimens.