Analyzing Gastrocnemius-Soleus Muscle activity on Velcroid sloping surfaces during different tasks in Human Body

Analyzing Gastrocnemius-Soleus Muscle activity on Velcroid sloping surfaces during different tasks in Human Body | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Analyzing Gastrocnemius-Soleus Muscle activity on Velcroid sloping surfaces during different tasks in Human Body Ishani Kapoor, Dilbag Singh, KK Deepak This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409172/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The functioning of gastrocnemius-soleus (G-S) muscle complex aids in stabilizing and controlling major bony joints, it also provides the primary coordination of the foot and body mass support. Geometric positioning of the foot and transferring of plantar loads can be adversely impacted in human musculature system because of the inactivity of muscles in microgravity environment. Differential activation of the G-S muscles can be analyzed to learn more about their roles during movement, performance and injury prevention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze G-S muscle activity during on velcroid (V) and nonvelcroid (NV) sloping surfaces during slope walking, standing and calf raise in human Body. In the present study, it was hypothesized that muscle activity of G-S muscle complex enhances during slope walking, standing and calf raise on V sloping surface. 10 volunteers performed above activities on predefined slope angles of 0° ± 6°, ± 12° and ± 18° for both NV and V sloping surfaces. Biopac® data acquisition system was used to obtain EMG signals to analyze the muscular activities in time and frequency domains. It was observed that soleus muscle activity was increased by 22% for 0 ° to 18 ° inclination and 21% for 0 ° to -18 ° declination on V-surface. Similarly, for gastrocnemius muscle the muscle activity was enhanced on V sloping surface by 20% for 0 ° to 18 ° inclination and 15% for 0 ° to -18 ° declination respectively. ANOVA results demonstrate the muscle activity increased substantially (p < 0.05) during these tasks being performed on V sloping surface. Further analysis indicates that muscle activity is stronger for soleus muscle as compared to gastrocnemius muscle. Also, there is no other similar work reported previously, that has been done for this purpose. This information about enhanced muscle activity is envisaged to have important clinical implications as it will play an important role in training and rehabilitation activities along with creating a countermeasures solution necessary when G-S muscle experience disuse. Velcroid sloping surface Sloped walking Gastrocnemius-Soleus muscles Electromyography Rehabilitation Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 1 Introduction Human body musculoskeletal system is a highly integrated system consisting of bones, muscles, joints, cartilage, tendons, ligaments and connective tissues. This system provides the structural framework that shapes the body as well as facilities body movement and protects the internal organs (Mitchell 2015 ). Muscles are used heavily by the musculoskeletal system, as by contracting and relaxing, they pull bones through tendons. This helps the body in performing actions as intricate as movement of the fingers to the large scale movement like walking and running (Elftman 1939 ). In addition to movement, muscles are necessary to support posture and stability. They are in a constant state of contraction to keep the body upright and steady and thus fend off injury and inappropriate skeletal alignment (Sangwan et al. 2014 ). G-S muscles are a group of lower limb musculoskeletal muscles that are important for movement and are central forces for functional stability. The gastrocnemius is the larger and more superficial of the two muscles and originates on the femur, extending across both the knee and ankle joints so that it can perform both knee flexion and ankle plantar flexion(Chow et al. 2000 ). Under gastrocnemius muscle is a flat, deeper muscle, known as the soleus, which covers the tibia and fibula. It produces sustained powerful plantar flexion, i.e. extension at the ankle, and is therefore recruited when standing, walking, or maintaining stance for prolonged periods(Chen et al. 2012 ; Cronin et al. 2013 ). These muscles, together, insert into the Achilles tendon which attaches them to the heel bone and thus helps in propulsion for movement. The G-S muscles serve a large role in a lot of activities such as they are responsible for the push-off force needed to lift the heel off the ground and to propel the body forward while walking. These muscles help get the explosive power that is needed for dynamic high impact movement like running, jumping and climbing. In addition, they are crucial in maintaining balance on the uneven surfaces or in movement that requires very fine adjustments of posture, such as standing on tiptoes or being on toes and shifting weight on feet (Cronin et al. 2013 ; Ferris and Hawkins 2020 ). These muscles are known as "muscle pump" as well, as through rhythmical contraction they aid venous circulation by pumping blood upward against gravity to the heart, helping to reduce the risk of venous pooling and avoiding deep vein thrombosis (Tauraginskii et al. 2023 ). Disuse of the G-S muscles which might be due to immobilization, injury, or a long space expedition can produce muscle atrophy, weakness, reduced endurance, and impaired functional movement (Hargens and Vico 2016 ; Marusic et al. 2021 ). Researcher (Ohira et al. 1999 ) reported decrease in these muscles by 12% after 2 months and 39% after 4 months of bed rest. According to (Baar et al. 2006 ) the muscle atrophy occurs as when these muscle are disused as at that time, there is more protein degeneration than generation. As these muscles are very important, prolonged disuse can impact on mobility, posture and the function of the lower limb. Thus, rehabilitation of these muscles is required. The G-S muscles are typically rehabilitated by graded approaches of exercises which often contain both strengthening and stretching tailored to restore muscle function, to improve range of motion and to not re-injure(Fernandez-Gonzalo et al. 2020 ; Gallagher et al. 2005 ). Excellent exercises to target the G-S muscles include sloped walking, standing on an incline, and calf raises(Burke et al. 2024 ; Lenhart et al. 2014 ; Moritani et al. 1991 ). During the push off phase of walking, the gastrocnemius is extremely active because it is the larger and more superficial muscle and therefore contributes to both ankle movement and knee flexion. Meanwhile the soleus also acts as a key by providing the power and stability needed to maintain a body in prolonged activity or static posture on a slope. Alternatively, standing on the toes while performing calf raises, target these muscles in particular since they are used for lifting the body off the floor. Repeatedly doing these movements not only strengthens as well as increases the endurance of the calf muscles, but also increases their size, flexibility, and explosiveness. Differential activation of the G-S muscles can be analyzed to learn more about their various roles during movement, performance and injury prevention. To understand the working of these muscles in different conditions many researchers have analyzed the working of these muscles on different slope inclinations and declinations(Paul et al. 2016 ; Pickle et al. 2016 ). Researchers (Alexander and Schwameder 2016 ), observed the effects of different slopes angles on the G-S muscles during walking. Their findings suggest that during uphill walking, the soleus muscle forces increased remarkably by more than 80%, and the gastrocnemius muscle forces increased by over 12%, compared to level walking. These alterations in muscle forces illustrate the impact of different slopes on the loading and engagement of the G-S muscles during walking. As the slope angle increases, the force required for walking or standing along with the need to stabilize the body and to maintain balance, also increases. To meet these additional demands increased involvement of G-S muscles must work harder to overcome gravity and produce plantar flexion. This study analyses the muscle activity of gastrocnemius- soleus muscles during sloped walking, standing and calf raise on V sloping surfaces. It was hypothesized that sloped walking, standing and calf raise of V sloping surface enhances the activity of gastrocnemius- soleus muscles. Previous work from our laboratory, suggested that velcro, increases the muscle activity as it adds friction which increases resisting forces acting on muscles thus increasing their activity to overcome these resisting forces (Shankhwar et al. 2021a). Previously, no other study has been reported for the proposed purpose. V sloping surface with predefined angles were designed and used in this study. EMG was used to compare the muscle activities as it is a practical and non-invasive technique used in many previous studies. The data was recorded for both muscles during sloped walking, standing and calf raise for both V and NV slopes at all inclining and declining slopes. This data was processed and time and frequency analysis were performed. This analysis also allows researchers and practitioners to comprehend how each muscle will react differently to specific movements or stressors. The direct applications of this knowledge are in sports and rehabilitation. By targeting the muscles athletes can train each more effectively according to their activity demands, leveraging gastrocnemius strength for basketball and sprints and soleus endurance for running and walking. Knowing these differential roles is useful in rehabilitation to develop recovery protocols and countermeasures to overcome weaknesses or injuries. These countermeasures are also useful to overcome muscle atrophy caused in space as disuse of muscles occurs due to microgravity (Deepak 2018 ; Shankhwar et al. 2021a). 2 Materials and Methods 2.1 Participant Recruitment Present investigation comprised of 10 healthy volunteer graduate students (23.8 ± 1.6 years old) with mean weight and height of 65.6 ± 7.3 kg and 166.5 ± 5.5 cm respectively. An informed written consent form was obtained regarding subject particulars, pathological information about cardiovascular disorders, stroke, head injuries, muscle tear, fracture, muscle injury of any kind etc. Also, family history of alcoholism, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, obesity etc. was recorded. 2.2 Experimental Setup and Data Collection In the present study, data collection protocols were developed for V and NV sloping surfaces as shown in the Fig. 1 . Height (H) of the slope is calculated using Eq. 1 and the values can be seen in Table 1 . The length of the plank is fixed to 60". The plank was the covered with Velcro on one-side and anti-skied rubber sheet on the other side so that both the V and NV slopes were developed for all the slope angles. $$\:\text{sin}\left(\theta\:\right)=\:\frac{H}{60}$$ 1 Table 1 Calculated height values for specific slope angles. Slope Angle, θ Sin(θ) Plank Length Height, H 6 ° 0.104 60" 6.24" 12 ° 0.208 60" 12.48" 18 ° 0.309 60" 18.54" The developed protocols were used to record EMG using Ag/Ag-Cl surface electrodes. Isopropyl alcohol was applied as cleaning agent for electrodes sites, in order to minimize the impedance from skin surface prior to electrode placement. Electrodes were placed over the gastrocnemius medialis and soleus on the dominant-leg according to the SENIAM criteria(Sacco et al. 2009 ). To achieve proper electrode placement and to minimize error the electrode was placed by same researcher for all participants. After electrode placement, each participant was explained about the developed protocol and different tasks they volunteered to performed i.e. calf-raise, standing and walking on various slope angles as shown in Fig. 2 . 2.3 EMG Equipment and Processing A differential amplifier (MP36 Biopac® systems, USA) was used for recording raw EMG signals. The recorded signals were stored on a computer and MATLAB software (R2024b) was used to perform subsequent analytical tasks. The signal was recorded at sampling rate of 2 kHz and bandlimited to 30 Hz to 400 Hz range (De Luca et al. 2010 ). The bandpass filter was followed by hamming window processing to control spectral leakage and noise. Filtered signal is then passed through full-wave rectifier to convert the raw (i.e. alternating) EMG signal into a unidirectional signal which is crucial for accurately accessing muscle activity and its strength. Normalization techniques were applied to EMG signals so that muscle activities of different muscles can be compared or muscle activities of different individuals can be compared. Muscle activity was recorded during various tasks on NV and V slope with different angles for both soleus and gastrocnemius muscles. Normalization was done by dividing the muscle activity value by maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) values recorded in the present work. MVC value functions as a standard assessment tool for measuring personal muscle strength capabilities(Commandeur et al. 2024 ; Halaki and Ginn 2012 ). The experiment used three MVC tests for 10 seconds with five minutes rest between each test to reduce fatigue effects. MVCs signals are processed and their averaged values are used as the basis for normalizing the EMG signals recorded during different activities. Time domain analysis methods together with frequency domain analysis methods evaluate the signals using various parameters (Sharma et al. 2024 ). Mean Absolute Value (MAV) and Root Mean square (RMS) value together with Integrated EMG (iEMG) value form the time-domain parameters assessed during the study using equations 2 , 3 and 4 respectively. MAV. The value of MAV derives from computing absolute value averages of EMG signal measurements. The average electrical muscle activity during a selected time span is represented by MAV for EMG signals $$\:\text{M}\text{A}\text{V}=\frac{1}{N}\sum\:_{i=1}^{N}{|s}_{i}|$$ 2 Where N denotes number of samples and \(\:{s}_{i}\) represents the amplitude of ith sample of the processed EMG signal RMS. To determine the magnitude of the value we compute the square root of the mean over time of vertical distance squared between the plot and rest state. When performing non-fatiguing constant force contractions, the derived value serves as the measure. $$\:RMS=\frac{1}{N}\sqrt{\sum\:_{i=1}^{N}{s}_{i}^{2}}$$ 3 iEMG. represents muscle activity during a specific time period because it is computed by integrating the rectified EMG signal amplitude. $$\:iEMG=\:\sum\:_{i=1}^{N}{|s}_{i}|$$ 4 Frequency domain analysis utilized Fourier transform computations because this technique incorporates all individual frequency elements found in the EMG signal(Jankaew et al. 2024 ). The calculation of power spectral density (PSD) involved squaring the Fourier transform from every segment of analyzed data before performing the average operation. EMG analysis required parameter calculations from PSD Median Frequency (MDF) and Mean Frequency (MNF) using Eqs. 5 ,6 respectively. MNF. The mean frequency comes from summing the products of EMG power at each frequency with the frequency value then dividing by the total EMG power in the spectrum $$\:MNF=\frac{\sum\:_{i=1}^{M}{f}_{i}{P}_{i}}{\sum\:_{i=1}^{M}{P}_{i}}$$ 5 2.4 Statistical Analysis The collected data received statistical analysis through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 22.0). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) a statistical test which compares the means of different set of data or computes significant difference among them. ANOVA requires data to meet three conditions including normal distribution and equal variance and independent observations. Post-hoc tests find out what group differs from others when significant differences emerge between parameter sets. This research employs one-way ANOVA as a statistical test followed by Bonferroni post-hoc for analysis of EMG results and additional computed parameters. 3 Result 3.1 Effect of Velcroid sloping surface on Soleus muscle Raw EMG signals acquired from soleus are shown in Fig. 3 . Here, Fig. 3 (a) represents raw EMG acquired during calf raise on NV sloping surface. Similarly raw EMG for calf raise on V slopes is represented on Fig. 3 (b). Whereas, representation of raw EMG acquired for both muscles while walking on NV slope Fig. 3 (c) and V slopes Fig. 3 (d) are shown. The results depict that amplitude value recorded while performing both tasks for soleus muscles on V sloping surface is greater as compared to NV sloping surface. Thus, the muscle activity has increased by resisting force of the velcro used. The average peak amplitude calculated at 0° during walking on NV sloping surface was 0.11 mV which increased to 0.26 for 18 ° and 0.22 for − 18° respectively. Similarly, for V sloping surface the value for 0° slope angle was 0.14mV which increased to 0.31mV for 18 ° slope and 0.27 mV for − 18 ° slope. For calf raise, the value of average peak amplitude was calculated as 0.29 mV for NV and 0.37mV for V sloping surface. Time Domain Analysis Time-domain parameters were derived from raw EMG signals of the soleus muscle. The values of parameters such as MAV, RMS and iEMG for Soleus Fig. 4 (a-c). The value of each parameter increased significantly from NV to V sloping surface during calf raise as well. For soleus muscle, parameter MAV value as shown in Fig. 4 (a) increased from 35.54 for 0 ° to 70.50 for 18 ° and 65.47 for − 18° slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface Likewise, the value of MAV as seen in Fig. 4 (a) was to 49.17 for 0 °, 79.19 for 18 ° and 74.91 for − 18 ° slope angle. The value of MAV parameter increased to 77.75 for V from 64.78 for NV sloping surface during calf raise. Further, the value of RMS increased form 31.92 for 0 ° to 67.30 for 18 ° and 62.78 for − 18° slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface as seen in Fig. 4 (b). Likewise, the value of RMS was to 45.92 for 0 °, 77.30 for 18 ° and 70.79 for − 18 ° slope angle. For calf raise, the value of RMS increased from 60.97 for NV to 78.61 for V sloping surface. From Fig. 4 (c) is can be observed that the value of iEMG increased form 30.76 for 0 ° to 60.08 for 18 ° and 54.94 for − 18° slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface. Likewise, the value of iEMG was to 47.02 for 0 °, 76.34 for 18 ° and 71.20 for − 18 ° slope angle. For calf raise, the value of iEMG increased from 63.95 for NV to 75.75 for V sloping surface. Frequency Domain Analysis Frequency domain parameters like Mean Frequency (MNF) and Median Frequency (MDF) were computed from the power spectral density of EMG signals from G-S muscles. These spectral features of EMG signals help researchers study the process of muscle fiber recruitment as well as neuromuscular dynamics. These properties help detect muscle fatigue because they assess frequency changes which distinguish fast-twitch from slow-twitch fiber activation patterns during EMG signal analysis. As shown in Fig. 5 (a) the MNF value for soleus muscle during walking on NV sloping surface for 0 ° is 46.12 Hz, for − 18 ° declination is 62.48 Hz and for inclination, the value is 64.10 Hz. Similarly, for walking on V sloping surface the value of MNF is 55.13 Hz for 0°, 66.52 Hz for − 18° and 69.11 Hz for 18° slope angle. For calf raise, the value of MNF is 54.04 Hz for NV sloping surface and 61.75 Hz for V sloping surface. Figure 5 (b) shows the MDF value for soleus muscle during walking on NV sloping surface for 0 ° is 43.72 Hz, for − 18 ° declination is 55.71 Hz and for inclination, the value is 58.50. Similarly, for walking on V sloping surface the value of MNF is 49.44 Hz for 0°, 62.71 Hz for − 18° and 60.10 Hz for 18° slope angle. For calf raise, the value of MNF is 50.12 Hz for NV sloping surface and 58.10 Hz for V sloping surface. 3.2 Effect of Velcroid sloping surface on Gastrocnemius muscle 10 participants volunteered to perform different tasks on NV and V sloping surfaces with predefined slope angles. Raw EMG signal acquired while performing different tasks are shown in Fig. 6 . Figure 6 (a) and Fig. 6 (b) represents raw EMG acquired from gastrocnemius during calf raise on NV sloping surface and V sloping surface respectively. Whereas, representation of raw EMG acquired for gastrocnemius muscle while walking on NV sloping surface in Fig. 6 (c) and for V sloping surface in Fig. 6 (d) respectively is done. The average peak amplitude calculated at 0° during walking on NV sloping surface was 0.09 mV which increased to 0.21 for 18 ° and 0.17 for − 18° respectively. Similarly, for V sloping surface the value for 0° slope angle was 0.11 mV which increased to 0.25 mV for 18 ° slope and 0.20 mV for − 18 ° slope. For calf raise, the value of average peak amplitude was calculated as 0.26 mV for NV and 0.32mV for V sloping surface. Time Domain Analysis The values of parameters such as MAV, RMS and iEMG for gastrocnemius muscles were calculated and shown in Fig. 7(a-c). The value of each parameter increased significantly from NV to V sloping surface during calf raise as well. For gastrocnemius muscle, parameter MAV value as shown in Fig. 7(a) increased from 32.08 for 0 ° to 67.54 for 18 ° and 62.31 for − 18° slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface Likewise, the value of MAV as seen in Fig. 7(a) was to 40.78 for 0 °, 77.24 for 18 ° and 71.00 for − 18 ° slope angle. The value of MAV parameter increased to 74.60 for V from 63.71 for NV sloping surface during calf raise. Further, the value of RMS increased form 36.45 for 0 ° to 69.05 for 18 ° and 62.92 for − 18° slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface as seen in Fig. 7(b). Likewise, the value of RMS was to 45.43 for 0 °, 76.33 for 18 ° and 70.22 for − 18 ° slope angle. For calf raise, the value of RMS increased from 62.58 for NV to 72.23 for V sloping surface. From Fig. 7(c) is can be observed that the value of iEMG increased form 34.66 for 0 ° to 67.94 for 18 ° and 63.38 for − 18° slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface. Likewise, the value of iEMG was to 42.55 for 0 °, 77.13 for 18 ° and 73.08 for − 18 ° slope angle. For calf raise, the value of iEMG increased from 70.79 for NV to 73.83 for V sloping surface. Frequency Domain Analysis Frequency domain parameters like MNF and MDF were calculated for gastrocnemius muscle as can be seen in Fig. 8. Figure 8(a) depicts the MNF value for gastrocnemius muscle during walking on NV sloping surface for 0 ° is 48.31 Hz, for − 18 ° declination is 61.45 Hz and for inclination, the value is 60.03 Hz. Similarly, for walking on V sloping surface the value of MNF is 52.32 Hz for 0°, 61.45 Hz for − 18° and 63.01 Hz for 18° slope angle. For calf raise, the value of MNF is 51.83 Hz for NV sloping surface and 57.34 Hz for V sloping surface. Figure 8(b) shows the MDF value for gastrocnemius muscle during walking on NV sloping surface for 0 ° is 45.32 Hz, for − 18 ° declination is 55.46 Hz and for inclination, the value is 60.10. Similarly, for walking on V sloping surface the value of MDF is 50.06 Hz for 0°, 61.17 Hz for − 18° and 63.10 Hz for 18° slope angle. For calf raise, the value of MDF is 50.34 Hz for NV sloping surface and 56.11 Hz for V sloping surface. 3.3 Comparison between Soleus and Gastrocnemius muscle activity. These results also highlight that activity of soleus muscle is higher than that of gastrocnemius muscle. The average peak amplitude of soleus muscle calculated at 0° during walking on NV sloping surface was 0.11 mV whereas for gastrocnemius muscle is 0.09 mV. A similar trend of muscle activity of soleus muscle can also be monitored using the results depicted in Fig. 9 where power spectral density (PSD) of soleus muscle can be seen as 6.16 x10-5(mV)2/Hz and gastrocnemius muscle is 0.92 x10-5(mV)2/Hz are compared during standing on 0 ° slope angle. 4 Discussion The hypothesis that by performing various activities on V sloping surface, G-S muscle activity will get enhanced was accepted. The average peak amplitude of muscle activity was computed while sloped walking and calf raise for NV and V sloping surfaces. The value of for soleus muscle indicated that it significantly increased (p < 0.001) 25% for V sloping surface as compared to NV sloping surface. Similarly, for gastrocnemius muscle, the value of average peak amplitude significantly increased (p < 0.05) 21% for V sloping surface. These values show higher muscle activity in both soleus and gastrocnemius muscles for V sloping surface. The results also indicate that soleus muscle demonstrates higher levels of muscle activity than gastrocnemius muscle. This is due to its high content of slow-twitch (Type I) fibres. Soleus demonstrates exceptional fatigue-resistance for performing activities of standing and walking. Soleus muscle stays constantly engaged to carry the weight of the body while it stabilizes the forward movement To further analyze the muscle activity further other frequency and time domain parameters were also computed. For soleus muscle, MAV significantly increased (p < 0.05) 23% for walking from NV to V sloping surface Likewise, the value for calf raise performed on non- V to V 0° slope surface significantly increased (p < 0.001) 20%. RMS value for both tasks when sloping surface is performed on NV to V 0° slope surface significantly increased (p < 0.001) 20%. RMS value for both tasks when sloping surface is changed to V, significantly increased (p < 0.05) 22% for soleus muscle. Interestingly, in the value of iEMG, significantly increased soleus muscles (p < 0. 05) 40% for both tasks when first performed on NV slope and then on V slope. Furthermore, for gastrocnemius muscle, MAV value significantly increased (p < .0001) 17% for both tasks when performed on NV to V sloping surfaces. RMS value for both tasks when done on V sloping surface, significantly increased (p < 0.05) 20% for gastrocnemius muscle. Interestingly, in the value of iEMG, significantly increased for gastrocnemius (p < 0.001) 20% for both tasks when first performed on NV sloping surface and then on V sloping surface. These parameters also indicate that there is an increase in muscle activity due to recruitment of more motor units along with more muscle contractions resulting in more potential firing and thus we get increased muscle potential activity (Cochrane et al. 2019 ; Shankhwar et al. 2021a). Different tasks performed on V sloping surfaces also has higher values for MNF and MDF parameters. The value is higher because of firing rate enhancement in type II large muscle fibres which results in increased muscle force activation (Angelova et al. 2018 ). It was also observed that fatigue occurs in both the muscles during different tasks on both NV and V sloping surfaces Fig. 10 . Muscle fatigue has increases at higher rate with V sloping surface. The power spectral density graph for both muscles revealed that more power was required for performing tasks on V sloping surface as compared to NV sloping surface (Shankhwar et al. 2021b). During sloped walking the values demonstrated greater increases when following an uphill path compared to a downhill trajectory thus indicating that soleus and gastrocnemius muscles exhibit heightened functional response to positive inclines. During inclines when the feet need to generate plantar flexion the G-S muscles as ankle extensors expand their effort because they function as antigravity components. The evidence shows soleus muscle achieves more muscle activity than gastrocnemius while walking because soleus maintains stability and performs plantar flexion to push the body forward. After all these analyses, it was proved that the hypothesis true that by doing different tasks on V sloping surface the activity of G-S muscles has enhanced. This result is very useful in many ways. This data can be used for rehabilitation purpose as long bed rest, injuries cause disuse of this muscle complex. Even long space expedition where the astronauts have to stay in space for a long period of time undergoes disuse of G-S muscle. Microgravity does not allow proper working of these antigravity muscles in space resulting in muscle atrophy. A person suffering from muscle atrophy in G-S muscle cannot walk or even stand properly and thus has to perform rehabilitation exercises along with physiotherapy for regaining the muscle activity. As present study shows that by performing sloped walking, standing and calf raise on V sloping surface the muscle activity of these muscles increases which can be used in rehabilitation process. Along with this training of athletes require them to train their G-S muscles to become more active. Thus, present study will also help in training of athletes by enhancing the muscle activity. 5 Conclusion In summary, this research shows that the G-S muscle complex achieves elevated activation levels during various tasks on velcroid sloping surfaces than on nonvelcroid surfaces. The results show sloped walking alongside calf raise on V sloping surface produce higher muscle activation. It was observed that soleus muscle activity was increased by 22% for 0 ° to 18 ° inclination and 21% for 0 ° to -18 ° declination on V-surface. Similarly, for gastrocnemius muscle the muscle activity was enhanced on V sloping surface by 20% for 0 ° to 18 ° inclination and 15% for 0 ° to -18 ° declination respectively. These statistical results demonstrate the hypothesis validity because they show substantial evidence of muscle enhancement. The clinical significance of these results demonstrates how velcroid surfaces could enhance training methods and rehabilitation programs because they help prevent muscle atrophy particularly when treating patients who experience excessive inactivity during bed rest or space mission conditions. Future scope of this work includes designing a countermeasure for muscle atrophy of G-S complex muscle that will be useful in bed rest, space expedition, rehabilitation and training purposes. Declarations Funding: The authors declare that there was no funding for the present work. Data Availability: No dataset was generated or analyzed during the present study. Consent to Publish : All participants have provided their voluntary written and signed informed consent, after understanding the nature, potential risks along with the benefits of the upcoming study. Consent to Participate : Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Ethics Declaration : All the experiments were performed on subjects were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on biomedical experimentation of Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar, India. Conflict of Interest. : The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The manuscript is approved by all the authors. Competing Interest. : The authors declare no competing interests. Author Contribution Ms I. K. , research scholar at Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar, INDIA is persuing her PhD under the supervision of Prof D. S. and Prof KK D. in Biomedical Instrumentation Laboratory of department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering. Acknowledgement Not Applicable References Alexander, N., Schwameder, H.: Effect of sloped walking on lower limb muscle forces. 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Acta physiologica scandinavica. 185, 61–69 (2005) Halaki, M., Ginn, K.: Normalization of EMG signals: to normalize or not to normalize and what to normalize to. Computational intelligence in electromyography analysis-a perspective on current applications and future challenges. 10, 49957 (2012) Hargens, A.R., Vico, L.: Long-duration bed rest as an analog to microgravity. Journal of applied physiology. 120, 891–903 (2016) Jankaew, A., Jan, Y.-K., Lin, C.-F.: Frequency Domain Analysis of Hamstring Activation During Jump-Landing Performance by Athletes with Diverse Training Regimens. Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering. 1–11 (2024) Lenhart, R.L., Francis, C.A., Lenz, A.L., Thelen, D.G.: Empirical evaluation of gastrocnemius and soleus function during walking. Journal of biomechanics. 47, 2969–2974 (2014) De Luca, C.J., Gilmore, L.D., Kuznetsov, M., Roy, S.H.: Filtering the surface EMG signal: Movement artifact and baseline noise contamination. Journal of biomechanics. 43, 1573–1579 (2010) Marusic, U., Narici, M., Simunic, B., Pisot, R., Ritzmann, R.: Nonuniform loss of muscle strength and atrophy during bed rest: a systematic review. Journal of Applied Physiology. 131, 194–206 (2021) Mitchell, T.: Introduction to Anatomy & Physiology: The Musculoskeletal System Vol 1. New Leaf Publishing Group (2015) Moritani, T., Oddsson, L., Thorstensson, A.: Activation patterns of the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles during different motor tasks. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology. 1, 81–88 (1991) Ohira, Y., Yoshinaga, T., Ohara, M., Nonaka, I., Yoshioka, T., Yamashita-Goto, K., Shenkman, B.S., Kozlovskaya, I.B., Roy, R.R., Edgerton, V.R.: Myonuclear domain and myosin phenotype in human soleus after bed rest with or without loading. Journal of applied physiology. 87, 1776–1785 (1999) Paul, S., Bhattacharyya, D., Chatterjee, T., Majumdar, D.: Effect of uphill walking with varying grade and speed during load carriage on muscle activity. Ergonomics. 59, 514–525 (2016) Pickle, N.T., Grabowski, A.M., Auyang, A.G., Silverman, A.K.: The functional roles of muscles during sloped walking. Journal of biomechanics. 49, 3244–3251 (2016) Sacco, I.C.N., Gomes, A.A., Otuzi, M.E., Pripas, D., Onodera, A.N.: A method for better positioning bipolar electrodes for lower limb EMG recordings during dynamic contractions. Journal of neuroscience methods. 180, 133–137 (2009) Sangwan, S., Green, R.A., Taylor, N.F.: Characteristics of stabilizer muscles: a systematic review. Physiotherapy Canada. 66, 348–358 (2014) Shankhwar, V., Singh, D., Deepak, K.K.: Effect of novel designed bodygear on gastrocnemius and soleus muscles during stepping in human body. Microgravity Science and Technology. 33, 1–10 (2021)(a) Shankhwar, V., Singh, D., Deepak, K.K.: Characterization of electromyographical signals from biceps and rectus femoris muscles to evaluate the performance of squats coupled with countermeasure gravitational load modulating bodygear. Microgravity Science and Technology. 33, 1–11 (2021)(b) Sharma, A., Sharma, I., Kumar, A.: Signal acquisition and time–frequency perspective of EMG signal-based systems and applications. IETE Technical Review. 41, 466–485 (2024) Tauraginskii, R.A., Lurie, F., Simakov, S., Agalarov, R., Borsuk, D., Khramtsov, P.: Calf muscle pump pressure-flow cycle during ambulation. Journal of Vascular Surgery: Venous and Lymphatic Disorders. 11, 783–792 (2023) Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6409172","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":448841621,"identity":"b906bc26-6c20-461d-82e4-085a351fb44f","order_by":0,"name":"Ishani Kapoor","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ishani","middleName":"","lastName":"Kapoor","suffix":""},{"id":448841622,"identity":"8b5daff3-5b68-4814-9efd-21d282c02634","order_by":1,"name":"Dilbag Singh","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Dilbag","middleName":"","lastName":"Singh","suffix":""},{"id":448841623,"identity":"71d77b37-20cf-449c-885a-eee635ff886f","order_by":2,"name":"KK Deepak","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Indian Institute of Technology Delhi","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"KK","middleName":"","lastName":"Deepak","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-09 07:38:05","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409172/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409172/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":81685349,"identity":"2f00a7f1-fa92-4693-81df-80f1afd0c3a3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:16:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":42137,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDesign and Development of slopes, with various angles for both (a) nonvelcroid and (b) velcroid sloping surfaces\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"1.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/67cdab46c4d3764fa1324233.jpg"},{"id":81685353,"identity":"963fd2b1-193a-4a20-8c1e-eacd95682303","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:16:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":89708,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eSum-up of the methodology in present study\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"2.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/ef56f05ac6734ccfd943374b.jpg"},{"id":81685351,"identity":"24ac33dc-46d9-431f-a0b4-45d83feeb714","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:16:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":54877,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eRaw EMG signals acquired from Soleus Muscle during calf raise and walking on nonvelcroid slopes (a) and (c) and velcroid (b) and (d) respectively. The signal encircled represents muscle activity during calf raise.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"3.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/bcb13ceacbbe533af3eb9d86.jpg"},{"id":81685964,"identity":"7845ef3e-967a-430e-bb1c-79fca32028af","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:24:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":53906,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eTime-domain parameters (a) MAV, (b) RMS and (c) iEMG of EMG generated in Soleus muscle during sloped walking on velcroid and nonvelcroid sloping surfaces. N=10. Values expressed as mean±SD\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"4.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/3cae7d8b8994dfebc81b9cce.jpg"},{"id":81685967,"identity":"d4397cdc-6b6f-46f2-b38e-9837352200a1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:24:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":28218,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eFrequency-domain parameters (a) MNF and (b) MDF of EMG generated in Soleus muscle during sloped walking on nonvelcroid and Velcroid sloping surfaces\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"5.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/8d74da5dd23f602804ece40c.jpg"},{"id":81685966,"identity":"4c1d0ce5-a9e4-4997-8fa8-639d54e57e1d","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:24:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":52535,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eRaw EMG signals acquired from Gastrocnemius Muscle during calf raise and walking on nonvelcroid slopes (a) and (c) and velcroid (b) and (d) respectively. The signal encircled represents muscle activity during calf raise\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"6.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/8b13e738bea43d04bb11ce26.jpg"},{"id":81685366,"identity":"fe229a34-68aa-4d88-a0b0-b9f02ecaef75","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:16:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":7,"title":"Figure 7","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":60269,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFig. 8\u003c/strong\u003e. Time-domain parameters (a) MAV, (b) RMS and (c) iEMG, of EMG generated in Gastrocnemius muscle during sloped walking on nonvelcroid and velcroid sloping surfaces. For N=10. The values are represented as mean ±SD\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"7.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/2f207772567a6dd099b1d4c6.jpg"},{"id":81685969,"identity":"9adfd3ad-8cbf-4109-8979-ade390a9e621","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:24:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":8,"title":"Figure 8","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":38195,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFig. 9.\u003c/strong\u003e Time-domain parameters (a) MNF and (b) MDF of EMG generated in Gastrocnemius muscle during sloped walking on velcroid and nonvelcroid sloping surfaces\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"9.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/df6806e63437586574a35d87.jpg"},{"id":81685356,"identity":"80e92bf5-39c2-434e-8cea-e64e8c61f8de","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:16:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":9,"title":"Figure 9","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":44483,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFig. 10\u003c/strong\u003e. Comparison between Soleus and gastrocnemius muscle using derived power spectral density during Standing on 0 ° slope angle\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"10.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/387dea1ff7a18be6b066c13b.jpg"},{"id":81685358,"identity":"ba0ab394-2211-4e02-89e0-f29215397536","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-04-30 10:16:51","extension":"jpg","order_by":10,"title":"Figure 10","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":43043,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFig. 10 \u003c/strong\u003ePSD variation observed from EMG signal generated in (a) soleus muscle and (b) gastrocnemius muscle\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"11.jpg","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/80e9a83720876d3d226241ba.jpg"},{"id":88771197,"identity":"03c1b795-c386-49ff-a29e-45f06bac0db8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-08-11 09:47:13","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1145052,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6409172/v1/04212739-803e-45ab-b202-5693673a2e0f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Analyzing Gastrocnemius-Soleus Muscle activity on Velcroid sloping surfaces during different tasks in Human Body","fulltext":[{"header":"1 Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eHuman body musculoskeletal system is a highly integrated system consisting of bones, muscles, joints, cartilage, tendons, ligaments and connective tissues. This system provides the structural framework that shapes the body as well as facilities body movement and protects the internal organs (Mitchell \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). Muscles are used heavily by the musculoskeletal system, as by contracting and relaxing, they pull bones through tendons. This helps the body in performing actions as intricate as movement of the fingers to the large scale movement like walking and running (Elftman \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1939\u003c/span\u003e). In addition to movement, muscles are necessary to support posture and stability. They are in a constant state of contraction to keep the body upright and steady and thus fend off injury and inappropriate skeletal alignment (Sangwan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR27\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e). G-S muscles are a group of lower limb musculoskeletal muscles that are important for movement and are central forces for functional stability. The gastrocnemius is the larger and more superficial of the two muscles and originates on the femur, extending across both the knee and ankle joints so that it can perform both knee flexion and ankle plantar flexion(Chow et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2000\u003c/span\u003e). Under gastrocnemius muscle is a flat, deeper muscle, known as the soleus, which covers the tibia and fibula. It produces sustained powerful plantar flexion, i.e. extension at the ankle, and is therefore recruited when standing, walking, or maintaining stance for prolonged periods(Chen et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e; Cronin et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e). These muscles, together, insert into the Achilles tendon which attaches them to the heel bone and thus helps in propulsion for movement. The G-S muscles serve a large role in a lot of activities such as they are responsible for the push-off force needed to lift the heel off the ground and to propel the body forward while walking. These muscles help get the explosive power that is needed for dynamic high impact movement like running, jumping and climbing. In addition, they are crucial in maintaining balance on the uneven surfaces or in movement that requires very fine adjustments of posture, such as standing on tiptoes or being on toes and shifting weight on feet (Cronin et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e; Ferris and Hawkins \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e). These muscles are known as \"muscle pump\" as well, as through rhythmical contraction they aid venous circulation by pumping blood upward against gravity to the heart, helping to reduce the risk of venous pooling and avoiding deep vein thrombosis (Tauraginskii et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDisuse of the G-S muscles which might be due to immobilization, injury, or a long space expedition can produce muscle atrophy, weakness, reduced endurance, and impaired functional movement (Hargens and Vico \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Marusic et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e). Researcher (Ohira et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR23\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1999\u003c/span\u003e) reported decrease in these muscles by 12% after 2 months and 39% after 4 months of bed rest. According to (Baar et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2006\u003c/span\u003e) the muscle atrophy occurs as when these muscle are disused as at that time, there is more protein degeneration than generation. As these muscles are very important, prolonged disuse can impact on mobility, posture and the function of the lower limb. Thus, rehabilitation of these muscles is required. The G-S muscles are typically rehabilitated by graded approaches of exercises which often contain both strengthening and stretching tailored to restore muscle function, to improve range of motion and to not re-injure(Fernandez-Gonzalo et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR12\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; Gallagher et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2005\u003c/span\u003e). Excellent exercises to target the G-S muscles include sloped walking, standing on an incline, and calf raises(Burke et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Lenhart et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Moritani et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1991\u003c/span\u003e). During the push off phase of walking, the gastrocnemius is extremely active because it is the larger and more superficial muscle and therefore contributes to both ankle movement and knee flexion. Meanwhile the soleus also acts as a key by providing the power and stability needed to maintain a body in prolonged activity or static posture on a slope. Alternatively, standing on the toes while performing calf raises, target these muscles in particular since they are used for lifting the body off the floor. Repeatedly doing these movements not only strengthens as well as increases the endurance of the calf muscles, but also increases their size, flexibility, and explosiveness.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eDifferential activation of the G-S muscles can be analyzed to learn more about their various roles during movement, performance and injury prevention. To understand the working of these muscles in different conditions many researchers have analyzed the working of these muscles on different slope inclinations and declinations(Paul et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Pickle et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e). Researchers (Alexander and Schwameder \u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), observed the effects of different slopes angles on the G-S muscles during walking. Their findings suggest that during uphill walking, the soleus muscle forces increased remarkably by more than 80%, and the gastrocnemius muscle forces increased by over 12%, compared to level walking. These alterations in muscle forces illustrate the impact of different slopes on the loading and engagement of the G-S muscles during walking. As the slope angle increases, the force required for walking or standing along with the need to stabilize the body and to maintain balance, also increases. To meet these additional demands increased involvement of G-S muscles must work harder to overcome gravity and produce plantar flexion.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis study analyses the muscle activity of gastrocnemius- soleus muscles during sloped walking, standing and calf raise on V sloping surfaces. It was hypothesized that sloped walking, standing and calf raise of V sloping surface enhances the activity of gastrocnemius- soleus muscles. Previous work from our laboratory, suggested that velcro, increases the muscle activity as it adds friction which increases resisting forces acting on muscles thus increasing their activity to overcome these resisting forces (Shankhwar et al. 2021a). Previously, no other study has been reported for the proposed purpose. V sloping surface with predefined angles were designed and used in this study. EMG was used to compare the muscle activities as it is a practical and non-invasive technique used in many previous studies. The data was recorded for both muscles during sloped walking, standing and calf raise for both V and NV slopes at all inclining and declining slopes. This data was processed and time and frequency analysis were performed. This analysis also allows researchers and practitioners to comprehend how each muscle will react differently to specific movements or stressors. The direct applications of this knowledge are in sports and rehabilitation. By targeting the muscles athletes can train each more effectively according to their activity demands, leveraging gastrocnemius strength for basketball and sprints and soleus endurance for running and walking. Knowing these differential roles is useful in rehabilitation to develop recovery protocols and countermeasures to overcome weaknesses or injuries. These countermeasures are also useful to overcome muscle atrophy caused in space as disuse of muscles occurs due to microgravity (Deepak \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Shankhwar et al. 2021a).\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2 Materials and Methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1 Participant Recruitment\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003ePresent investigation comprised of 10 healthy volunteer graduate students (23.8\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1.6 years old) with mean weight and height of 65.6\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;7.3 kg and 166.5\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;5.5 cm respectively. An informed written consent form was obtained regarding subject particulars, pathological information about cardiovascular disorders, stroke, head injuries, muscle tear, fracture, muscle injury of any kind etc. Also, family history of alcoholism, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, obesity etc. was recorded.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2 Experimental Setup and Data Collection\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the present study, data collection protocols were developed for V and NV sloping surfaces as shown in the Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. Height (H) of the slope is calculated using Eq.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Equ1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e and the values can be seen in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e. The length of the plank is fixed to 60\". The plank was the covered with Velcro on one-side and anti-skied rubber sheet on the other side so that both the V and NV slopes were developed for all the slope angles.\u003cdiv id=\"Equ1\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ1\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:\\text{sin}\\left(\\theta\\:\\right)=\\:\\frac{H}{60}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e1\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCalculated height values for specific slope angles.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSlope Angle, θ\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSin(θ)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePlank Length\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHeight, H\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6\u003cb\u003e\u0026deg;\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.104\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e60\"\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.24\"\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12\u003cb\u003e\u0026deg;\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.208\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e60\"\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e12.48\"\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18\u003cb\u003e\u0026deg;\u003c/b\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.309\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e60\"\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.54\"\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe developed protocols were used to record EMG using Ag/Ag-Cl surface electrodes. Isopropyl alcohol was applied as cleaning agent for electrodes sites, in order to minimize the impedance from skin surface prior to electrode placement. Electrodes were placed over the gastrocnemius medialis and soleus on the dominant-leg according to the SENIAM criteria(Sacco et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR26\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2009\u003c/span\u003e). To achieve proper electrode placement and to minimize error the electrode was placed by same researcher for all participants. After electrode placement, each participant was explained about the developed protocol and different tasks they volunteered to performed i.e. calf-raise, standing and walking on various slope angles as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec5\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.3 EMG Equipment and Processing\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eA differential amplifier (MP36 Biopac\u0026reg; systems, USA) was used for recording raw EMG signals. The recorded signals were stored on a computer and MATLAB software (R2024b) was used to perform subsequent analytical tasks. The signal was recorded at sampling rate of 2 kHz and bandlimited to 30 Hz to 400 Hz range (De Luca et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e). The bandpass filter was followed by hamming window processing to control spectral leakage and noise. Filtered signal is then passed through full-wave rectifier to convert the raw (i.e. alternating) EMG signal into a unidirectional signal which is crucial for accurately accessing muscle activity and its strength. Normalization techniques were applied to EMG signals so that muscle activities of different muscles can be compared or muscle activities of different individuals can be compared. Muscle activity was recorded during various tasks on NV and V slope with different angles for both soleus and gastrocnemius muscles. Normalization was done by dividing the muscle activity value by maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) values recorded in the present work. MVC value functions as a standard assessment tool for measuring personal muscle strength capabilities(Commandeur et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e; Halaki and Ginn \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2012\u003c/span\u003e). The experiment used three MVC tests for 10 seconds with five minutes rest between each test to reduce fatigue effects. MVCs signals are processed and their averaged values are used as the basis for normalizing the EMG signals recorded during different activities.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTime domain analysis methods together with frequency domain analysis methods evaluate the signals using various parameters (Sharma et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). Mean Absolute Value (MAV) and Root Mean square (RMS) value together with Integrated EMG (iEMG) value form the time-domain parameters assessed during the study using equations \u003cspan refid=\"Equ2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e, \u003cspan refid=\"Equ3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e and \u003cspan refid=\"Equ4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e respectively.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eMAV.\u003c/b\u003e The value of MAV derives from computing absolute value averages of EMG signal measurements. The average electrical muscle activity during a selected time span is represented by MAV for EMG signals\u003cdiv id=\"Equ2\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ2\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:\\text{M}\\text{A}\\text{V}=\\frac{1}{N}\\sum\\:_{i=1}^{N}{|s}_{i}|$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e2\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhere N denotes number of samples and \u003cspan class=\"InlineEquation\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"mathinline\"\u003e\\(\\:{s}_{i}\\)\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e represents the amplitude of ith sample of the processed EMG signal\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eRMS.\u003c/b\u003e To determine the magnitude of the value we compute the square root of the mean over time of vertical distance squared between the plot and rest state. When performing non-fatiguing constant force contractions, the derived value serves as the measure.\u003cdiv id=\"Equ3\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ3\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:RMS=\\frac{1}{N}\\sqrt{\\sum\\:_{i=1}^{N}{s}_{i}^{2}}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e3\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eiEMG.\u003c/b\u003e represents muscle activity during a specific time period because it is computed by integrating the rectified EMG signal amplitude.\u003cdiv id=\"Equ4\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ4\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:iEMG=\\:\\sum\\:_{i=1}^{N}{|s}_{i}|$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e4\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrequency domain analysis utilized Fourier transform computations because this technique incorporates all individual frequency elements found in the EMG signal(Jankaew et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). The calculation of power spectral density (PSD) involved squaring the Fourier transform from every segment of analyzed data before performing the average operation. EMG analysis required parameter calculations from PSD Median Frequency (MDF) and Mean Frequency (MNF) using Eqs.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Equ5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e,6 respectively.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eMNF.\u003c/b\u003e The mean frequency comes from summing the products of EMG power at each frequency with the frequency value then dividing by the total EMG power in the spectrum\u003cdiv id=\"Equ5\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ5\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:MNF=\\frac{\\sum\\:_{i=1}^{M}{f}_{i}{P}_{i}}{\\sum\\:_{i=1}^{M}{P}_{i}}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e5\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.4 Statistical Analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe collected data received statistical analysis through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 22.0). Analysis of variance (ANOVA) a statistical test which compares the means of different set of data or computes significant difference among them. ANOVA requires data to meet three conditions including normal distribution and equal variance and independent observations. Post-hoc tests find out what group differs from others when significant differences emerge between parameter sets. This research employs one-way ANOVA as a statistical test followed by Bonferroni post-hoc for analysis of EMG results and additional computed parameters.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3 Result","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1 Effect of Velcroid sloping surface on Soleus muscle\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eRaw EMG signals acquired from soleus are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e. Here, Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e(a) represents raw EMG acquired during calf raise on NV sloping surface. Similarly raw EMG for calf raise on V slopes is represented on Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e(b). Whereas, representation of raw EMG acquired for both muscles while walking on NV slope Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e(c) and V slopes Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e(d) are shown. The results depict that amplitude value recorded while performing both tasks for soleus muscles on V sloping surface is greater as compared to NV sloping surface. Thus, the muscle activity has increased by resisting force of the velcro used. The average peak amplitude calculated at 0\u0026deg; during walking on NV sloping surface was 0.11 mV which increased to 0.26 for 18 \u0026deg; and 0.22 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; respectively. Similarly, for V sloping surface the value for 0\u0026deg; slope angle was 0.14mV which increased to 0.31mV for 18 \u0026deg; slope and 0.27 mV for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; slope. For calf raise, the value of average peak amplitude was calculated as 0.29 mV for NV and 0.37mV for V sloping surface.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eTime Domain Analysis\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTime-domain parameters were derived from raw EMG signals of the soleus muscle. The values of parameters such as MAV, RMS and iEMG for Soleus Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e(a-c). The value of each parameter increased significantly from NV to V sloping surface during calf raise as well. For soleus muscle, parameter MAV value as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e(a) increased from 35.54 for 0 \u0026deg; to 70.50 for 18 \u0026deg; and 65.47 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface Likewise, the value of MAV as seen in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e(a) was to 49.17 for 0 \u0026deg;, 79.19 for 18 \u0026deg; and 74.91 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; slope angle.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe value of MAV parameter increased to 77.75 for V from 64.78 for NV sloping surface during calf raise. Further, the value of RMS increased form 31.92 for 0 \u0026deg; to 67.30 for 18 \u0026deg; and 62.78 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface as seen in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e(b). Likewise, the value of RMS was to 45.92 for 0 \u0026deg;, 77.30 for 18 \u0026deg; and 70.79 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; slope angle. For calf raise, the value of RMS increased from 60.97 for NV to 78.61 for V sloping surface. From Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e(c) is can be observed that the value of iEMG increased form 30.76 for 0 \u0026deg; to 60.08 for 18 \u0026deg; and 54.94 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface. Likewise, the value of iEMG was to 47.02 for 0 \u0026deg;, 76.34 for 18 \u0026deg; and 71.20 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; slope angle. For calf raise, the value of iEMG increased from 63.95 for NV to 75.75 for V sloping surface.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eFrequency Domain Analysis\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrequency domain parameters like Mean Frequency (MNF) and Median Frequency (MDF) were computed from the power spectral density of EMG signals from G-S muscles. These spectral features of EMG signals help researchers study the process of muscle fiber recruitment as well as neuromuscular dynamics. These properties help detect muscle fatigue because they assess frequency changes which distinguish fast-twitch from slow-twitch fiber activation patterns during EMG signal analysis. As shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e(a) the MNF value for soleus muscle during walking on NV sloping surface for 0 \u0026deg; is 46.12 Hz, for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; declination is 62.48 Hz and for inclination, the value is 64.10 Hz. Similarly, for walking on V sloping surface the value of MNF is 55.13 Hz for 0\u0026deg;, 66.52 Hz for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; and 69.11 Hz for 18\u0026deg; slope angle. For calf raise, the value of MNF is 54.04 Hz for NV sloping surface and 61.75 Hz for V sloping surface. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig5\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e(b) shows the MDF value for soleus muscle during walking on NV sloping surface for 0 \u0026deg; is 43.72 Hz, for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; declination is 55.71 Hz and for inclination, the value is 58.50. Similarly, for walking on V sloping surface the value of MNF is 49.44 Hz for 0\u0026deg;, 62.71 Hz for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; and 60.10 Hz for 18\u0026deg; slope angle. For calf raise, the value of MNF is 50.12 Hz for NV sloping surface and 58.10 Hz for V sloping surface.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2 Effect of Velcroid sloping surface on Gastrocnemius muscle\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 participants volunteered to perform different tasks on NV and V sloping surfaces with predefined slope angles. Raw EMG signal acquired while performing different tasks are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e. Figure\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e(a) and Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e(b) represents raw EMG acquired from gastrocnemius during calf raise on NV sloping surface and V sloping surface respectively. Whereas, representation of raw EMG acquired for gastrocnemius muscle while walking on NV sloping surface in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e(c) and for V sloping surface in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig6\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e(d) respectively is done. The average peak amplitude calculated at 0\u0026deg; during walking on NV sloping surface was 0.09 mV which increased to 0.21 for 18 \u0026deg; and 0.17 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; respectively. Similarly, for V sloping surface the value for 0\u0026deg; slope angle was 0.11 mV which increased to 0.25 mV for 18 \u0026deg; slope and 0.20 mV for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; slope. For calf raise, the value of average peak amplitude was calculated as 0.26 mV for NV and 0.32mV for V sloping surface.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eTime Domain Analysis\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe values of parameters such as MAV, RMS and iEMG for gastrocnemius muscles were calculated and shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;7(a-c). The value of each parameter increased significantly from NV to V sloping surface during calf raise as well. For gastrocnemius muscle, parameter MAV value as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;7(a) increased from 32.08 for 0 \u0026deg; to 67.54 for 18 \u0026deg; and 62.31 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface Likewise, the value of MAV as seen in Fig.\u0026nbsp;7(a) was to 40.78 for 0 \u0026deg;, 77.24 for 18 \u0026deg; and 71.00 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; slope angle. The value of MAV parameter increased to 74.60 for V from 63.71 for NV sloping surface during calf raise. Further, the value of RMS increased form 36.45 for 0 \u0026deg; to 69.05 for 18 \u0026deg; and 62.92 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface as seen in Fig.\u0026nbsp;7(b). Likewise, the value of RMS was to 45.43 for 0 \u0026deg;, 76.33 for 18 \u0026deg; and 70.22 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; slope angle. For calf raise, the value of RMS increased from 62.58 for NV to 72.23 for V sloping surface. From Fig.\u0026nbsp;7(c) is can be observed that the value of iEMG increased form 34.66 for 0 \u0026deg; to 67.94 for 18 \u0026deg; and 63.38 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; slope angles respectively while walking on NV sloping surface. Likewise, the value of iEMG was to 42.55 for 0 \u0026deg;, 77.13 for 18 \u0026deg; and 73.08 for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; slope angle. For calf raise, the value of iEMG increased from 70.79 for NV to 73.83 for V sloping surface.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eFrequency Domain Analysis\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrequency domain parameters like MNF and MDF were calculated for gastrocnemius muscle as can be seen in Fig.\u0026nbsp;8. Figure\u0026nbsp;8(a) depicts the MNF value for gastrocnemius muscle during walking on NV sloping surface for 0 \u0026deg; is 48.31 Hz, for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; declination is 61.45 Hz and for inclination, the value is 60.03 Hz. Similarly, for walking on V sloping surface the value of MNF is 52.32 Hz for 0\u0026deg;, 61.45 Hz for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; and 63.01 Hz for 18\u0026deg; slope angle. For calf raise, the value of MNF is 51.83 Hz for NV sloping surface and 57.34 Hz for V sloping surface. Figure\u0026nbsp;8(b) shows the MDF value for gastrocnemius muscle during walking on NV sloping surface for 0 \u0026deg; is 45.32 Hz, for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18 \u0026deg; declination is 55.46 Hz and for inclination, the value is 60.10. Similarly, for walking on V sloping surface the value of MDF is 50.06 Hz for 0\u0026deg;, 61.17 Hz for \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; and 63.10 Hz for 18\u0026deg; slope angle. For calf raise, the value of MDF is 50.34 Hz for NV sloping surface and 56.11 Hz for V sloping surface.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3 Comparison between Soleus and Gastrocnemius muscle activity.\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThese results also highlight that activity of soleus muscle is higher than that of gastrocnemius muscle. The average peak amplitude of soleus muscle calculated at 0\u0026deg; during walking on NV sloping surface was 0.11 mV whereas for gastrocnemius muscle is 0.09 mV. A similar trend of muscle activity of soleus muscle can also be monitored using the results depicted in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e9\u003c/span\u003e where power spectral density (PSD) of soleus muscle can be seen as 6.16 x10-5(mV)2/Hz and gastrocnemius muscle is 0.92 x10-5(mV)2/Hz are compared during standing on 0 \u0026deg; slope angle.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"4 Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe hypothesis that by performing various activities on V sloping surface, G-S muscle activity will get enhanced was accepted. The average peak amplitude of muscle activity was computed while sloped walking and calf raise for NV and V sloping surfaces. The value of for soleus muscle indicated that it significantly increased (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) 25% for V sloping surface as compared to NV sloping surface. Similarly, for gastrocnemius muscle, the value of average peak amplitude significantly increased (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05) 21% for V sloping surface. These values show higher muscle activity in both soleus and gastrocnemius muscles for V sloping surface.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe results also indicate that soleus muscle demonstrates higher levels of muscle activity than gastrocnemius muscle. This is due to its high content of slow-twitch (Type I) fibres. Soleus demonstrates exceptional fatigue-resistance for performing activities of standing and walking. Soleus muscle stays constantly engaged to carry the weight of the body while it stabilizes the forward movement\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo further analyze the muscle activity further other frequency and time domain parameters were also computed. For soleus muscle, MAV significantly increased (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05) 23% for walking from NV to V sloping surface Likewise, the value for calf raise performed on non- V to V 0\u0026deg; slope surface significantly increased (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001)\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e20%. RMS value for both tasks when sloping surface is performed on NV to V 0\u0026deg; slope surface significantly increased (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) 20%. RMS value for both tasks when sloping surface is changed to V, significantly increased (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05) 22% for soleus muscle. Interestingly, in the value of iEMG, significantly increased soleus muscles (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0. 05) 40% for both tasks when first performed on NV slope and then on V slope. Furthermore, for gastrocnemius muscle, MAV value significantly increased (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;.0001) 17% for both tasks when performed on NV to V sloping surfaces. RMS value for both tasks when done on V sloping surface, significantly increased (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05) 20% for gastrocnemius muscle. Interestingly, in the value of iEMG, significantly increased for gastrocnemius (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.001) 20% for both tasks when first performed on NV sloping surface and then on V sloping surface. These parameters also indicate that there is an increase in muscle activity due to recruitment of more motor units along with more muscle contractions resulting in more potential firing and thus we get increased muscle potential activity (Cochrane et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Shankhwar et al. 2021a). Different tasks performed on V sloping surfaces also has higher values for MNF and MDF parameters. The value is higher because of firing rate enhancement in type II large muscle fibres which results in increased muscle force activation (Angelova et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e). It was also observed that fatigue occurs in both the muscles during different tasks on both NV and V sloping surfaces Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig8\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e10\u003c/span\u003e. Muscle fatigue has increases at higher rate with V sloping surface. The power spectral density graph for both muscles revealed that more power was required for performing tasks on V sloping surface as compared to NV sloping surface (Shankhwar et al. 2021b). During sloped walking the values demonstrated greater increases when following an uphill path compared to a downhill trajectory thus indicating that soleus and gastrocnemius muscles exhibit heightened functional response to positive inclines. During inclines when the feet need to generate plantar flexion the G-S muscles as ankle extensors expand their effort because they function as antigravity components. The evidence shows soleus muscle achieves more muscle activity than gastrocnemius while walking because soleus maintains stability and performs plantar flexion to push the body forward. After all these analyses, it was proved that the hypothesis true that by doing different tasks on V sloping surface the activity of G-S muscles has enhanced. This result is very useful in many ways. This data can be used for rehabilitation purpose as long bed rest, injuries cause disuse of this muscle complex. Even long space expedition where the astronauts have to stay in space for a long period of time undergoes disuse of G-S muscle. Microgravity does not allow proper working of these antigravity muscles in space resulting in muscle atrophy. A person suffering from muscle atrophy in G-S muscle cannot walk or even stand properly and thus has to perform rehabilitation exercises along with physiotherapy for regaining the muscle activity. As present study shows that by performing sloped walking, standing and calf raise on V sloping surface the muscle activity of these muscles increases which can be used in rehabilitation process. Along with this training of athletes require them to train their G-S muscles to become more active. Thus, present study will also help in training of athletes by enhancing the muscle activity.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"5 Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn summary, this research shows that the G-S muscle complex achieves elevated activation levels during various tasks on velcroid sloping surfaces than on nonvelcroid surfaces. The results show sloped walking alongside calf raise on V sloping surface produce higher muscle activation. It was observed that soleus muscle activity was increased by 22% for 0 \u0026deg; to 18 \u0026deg; inclination and 21% for 0 \u0026deg; to -18 \u0026deg; declination on V-surface. Similarly, for gastrocnemius muscle the muscle activity was enhanced on V sloping surface by 20% for 0 \u0026deg; to 18 \u0026deg; inclination and 15% for 0 \u0026deg; to -18 \u0026deg; declination respectively. These statistical results demonstrate the hypothesis validity because they show substantial evidence of muscle enhancement. The clinical significance of these results demonstrates how velcroid surfaces could enhance training methods and rehabilitation programs because they help prevent muscle atrophy particularly when treating patients who experience excessive inactivity during bed rest or space mission conditions. Future scope of this work includes designing a countermeasure for muscle atrophy of G-S complex muscle that will be useful in bed rest, space expedition, rehabilitation and training purposes.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003ch2\u003eFunding:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that there was no funding for the present work.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eData Availability: No dataset was generated or analyzed during the present study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eConsent to Publish\u003c/em\u003e: All participants have provided their voluntary written and signed informed consent, after understanding the nature, potential risks along with the benefits of the upcoming study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eConsent to Participate\u003c/em\u003e: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEthics Declaration\u003c/em\u003e: All the experiments were performed on subjects were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on biomedical experimentation of Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar, India.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eConflict of Interest.\u003c/em\u003e: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The manuscript is approved by all the authors.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eCompeting Interest.\u003c/em\u003e: The authors declare no competing interests.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAuthor Contribution\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eMs I. K. , research scholar at Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology Jalandhar, INDIA is persuing her PhD under the supervision of Prof D. S. and Prof KK D. in Biomedical Instrumentation Laboratory of department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eAcknowledgement\u003c/h2\u003e\u003cp\u003eNot Applicable\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlexander, N., Schwameder, H.: Effect of sloped walking on lower limb muscle forces. Gait \u0026amp; posture. 47, 62\u0026ndash;67 (2016)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAngelova, S., Ribagin, S., Raikova, R., Veneva, I.: Power frequency spectrum analysis of surface EMG signals of upper limb muscles during elbow flexion\u0026ndash;A comparison between healthy subjects and stroke survivors. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology. 38, 7\u0026ndash;16 (2018)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBaar, K., Nader, G., Bodine, S.: Resistance exercise, muscle loading/unloading and the control of muscle mass. Essays in biochemistry. 42, 61\u0026ndash;74 (2006)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBurke, R., Pi\u0026ntilde;ero, A., Mohan, A.E., Hermann, T., Sapuppo, M., Augustin, F., Coleman, M., Korakakis, P.A., Wolf, M., Swinton, P.A.: Exercise Selection Differentially Influences Lower Body Regional Muscle Development. Journal of Science in Sport and Exercise. 1\u0026ndash;11 (2024)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChen, W.-M., Park, J., Park, S.-B., Shim, V.P.-W., Lee, T.: Role of gastrocnemius\u0026ndash;soleus muscle in forefoot force transmission at heel rise\u0026mdash;A 3D finite element analysis. Journal of biomechanics. 45, 1783\u0026ndash;1789 (2012)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChow, R.S., Medri, M.K., Martin, D.C., Leekam, R.N., Agur, A.M., McKee, N.H.: Sonographic studies of human soleus and gastrocnemius muscle architecture: gender variability. European journal of applied physiology. 82, 236\u0026ndash;244 (2000)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCochrane, D.J., Gabriel, E., Harnett, M.C.: Evaluating gluteus maximus maximal voluntary isometric contractions for EMG normalization in male rugby players. Journal of Physical Therapy Science. 31, 371\u0026ndash;375 (2019)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCommandeur, D., Klimstra, M., Brodie, R., Hundza, S.: A Comparison of Bioelectric and Biomechanical EMG Normalization Techniques in Healthy Older and Young Adults during Walking Gait. Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology. 9, 90 (2024)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCronin, N.J., Avela, J., Finni, T., Peltonen, J.: Differences in contractile behaviour between the soleus and medial gastrocnemius muscles during human walking. Journal of Experimental Biology. 216, 909\u0026ndash;914 (2013)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDeepak, K.: The Patent Office Journal No. A Novel Antigravity Bpdy Gear. 18, (2018)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eElftman, H.: The function of muscles in locomotion. American Journal of Physiology-Legacy Content. 125, 357\u0026ndash;366 (1939)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFernandez‐Gonzalo, R., Tesch, P.A., Lundberg, T.R., Alkner, B.A., Rullman, E., Gustafsson, T.: Three months of bed rest induce a residual transcriptomic signature resilient to resistance exercise countermeasures. The FASEB Journal. 34, 7958\u0026ndash;7969 (2020)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFerris, R.M., Hawkins, D.A.: Gastrocnemius and soleus muscle contributions to ankle plantar flexion torque as a function of ankle and knee angle. Sports Inj. Med. 4, 63 (2020)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGallagher, P., Trappe, S., Harber, M., Creer, A., Mazzetti, S., Trappe, T., Alkner, B., Tesch, P.: Effects of 84‐days of bedrest and resistance training on single muscle fibre myosin heavy chain distribution in human vastus lateralis and soleus muscles. Acta physiologica scandinavica. 185, 61\u0026ndash;69 (2005)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHalaki, M., Ginn, K.: Normalization of EMG signals: to normalize or not to normalize and what to normalize to. Computational intelligence in electromyography analysis-a perspective on current applications and future challenges. 10, 49957 (2012)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHargens, A.R., Vico, L.: Long-duration bed rest as an analog to microgravity. Journal of applied physiology. 120, 891\u0026ndash;903 (2016)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eJankaew, A., Jan, Y.-K., Lin, C.-F.: Frequency Domain Analysis of Hamstring Activation During Jump-Landing Performance by Athletes with Diverse Training Regimens. Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering. 1\u0026ndash;11 (2024)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLenhart, R.L., Francis, C.A., Lenz, A.L., Thelen, D.G.: Empirical evaluation of gastrocnemius and soleus function during walking. Journal of biomechanics. 47, 2969\u0026ndash;2974 (2014)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDe Luca, C.J., Gilmore, L.D., Kuznetsov, M., Roy, S.H.: Filtering the surface EMG signal: Movement artifact and baseline noise contamination. Journal of biomechanics. 43, 1573\u0026ndash;1579 (2010)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMarusic, U., Narici, M., Simunic, B., Pisot, R., Ritzmann, R.: Nonuniform loss of muscle strength and atrophy during bed rest: a systematic review. Journal of Applied Physiology. 131, 194\u0026ndash;206 (2021)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMitchell, T.: Introduction to Anatomy \u0026amp; Physiology: The Musculoskeletal System Vol 1. New Leaf Publishing Group (2015)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMoritani, T., Oddsson, L., Thorstensson, A.: Activation patterns of the soleus and gastrocnemius muscles during different motor tasks. Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology. 1, 81\u0026ndash;88 (1991)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOhira, Y., Yoshinaga, T., Ohara, M., Nonaka, I., Yoshioka, T., Yamashita-Goto, K., Shenkman, B.S., Kozlovskaya, I.B., Roy, R.R., Edgerton, V.R.: Myonuclear domain and myosin phenotype in human soleus after bed rest with or without loading. Journal of applied physiology. 87, 1776\u0026ndash;1785 (1999)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePaul, S., Bhattacharyya, D., Chatterjee, T., Majumdar, D.: Effect of uphill walking with varying grade and speed during load carriage on muscle activity. Ergonomics. 59, 514\u0026ndash;525 (2016)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePickle, N.T., Grabowski, A.M., Auyang, A.G., Silverman, A.K.: The functional roles of muscles during sloped walking. Journal of biomechanics. 49, 3244\u0026ndash;3251 (2016)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSacco, I.C.N., Gomes, A.A., Otuzi, M.E., Pripas, D., Onodera, A.N.: A method for better positioning bipolar electrodes for lower limb EMG recordings during dynamic contractions. Journal of neuroscience methods. 180, 133\u0026ndash;137 (2009)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSangwan, S., Green, R.A., Taylor, N.F.: Characteristics of stabilizer muscles: a systematic review. Physiotherapy Canada. 66, 348\u0026ndash;358 (2014)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShankhwar, V., Singh, D., Deepak, K.K.: Effect of novel designed bodygear on gastrocnemius and soleus muscles during stepping in human body. Microgravity Science and Technology. 33, 1\u0026ndash;10 (2021)(a)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eShankhwar, V., Singh, D., Deepak, K.K.: Characterization of electromyographical signals from biceps and rectus femoris muscles to evaluate the performance of squats coupled with countermeasure gravitational load modulating bodygear. Microgravity Science and Technology. 33, 1\u0026ndash;11 (2021)(b)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSharma, A., Sharma, I., Kumar, A.: Signal acquisition and time\u0026ndash;frequency perspective of EMG signal-based systems and applications. IETE Technical Review. 41, 466\u0026ndash;485 (2024)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTauraginskii, R.A., Lurie, F., Simakov, S., Agalarov, R., Borsuk, D., Khramtsov, P.: Calf muscle pump pressure-flow cycle during ambulation. Journal of Vascular Surgery: Venous and Lymphatic Disorders. 11, 783\u0026ndash;792 (2023)\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Velcroid sloping surface, Sloped walking, Gastrocnemius-Soleus muscles, Electromyography, Rehabilitation","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409172/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409172/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe functioning of gastrocnemius-soleus (G-S) muscle complex aids in stabilizing and controlling major bony joints, it also provides the primary coordination of the foot and body mass support. Geometric positioning of the foot and transferring of plantar loads can be adversely impacted in human musculature system because of the inactivity of muscles in microgravity environment. Differential activation of the G-S muscles can be analyzed to learn more about their roles during movement, performance and injury prevention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to analyze G-S muscle activity during on velcroid (V) and nonvelcroid (NV) sloping surfaces during slope walking, standing and calf raise in human Body. In the present study, it was hypothesized that muscle activity of G-S muscle complex enhances during slope walking, standing and calf raise on V sloping surface. 10 volunteers performed above activities on predefined slope angles of 0\u0026deg; \u0026plusmn; 6\u0026deg;, \u0026plusmn; 12\u0026deg; and \u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;18\u0026deg; for both NV and V sloping surfaces. Biopac\u0026reg; data acquisition system was used to obtain EMG signals to analyze the muscular activities in time and frequency domains. It was observed that soleus muscle activity was increased by 22% for 0 \u0026deg; to 18 \u0026deg; inclination and 21% for 0 \u0026deg; to -18 \u0026deg; declination on V-surface. Similarly, for gastrocnemius muscle the muscle activity was enhanced on V sloping surface by 20% for 0 \u0026deg; to 18 \u0026deg; inclination and 15% for 0 \u0026deg; to -18 \u0026deg; declination respectively. ANOVA results demonstrate the muscle activity increased substantially (p\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.05) during these tasks being performed on V sloping surface. Further analysis indicates that muscle activity is stronger for soleus muscle as compared to gastrocnemius muscle. Also, there is no other similar work reported previously, that has been done for this purpose. This information about enhanced muscle activity is envisaged to have important clinical implications as it will play an important role in training and rehabilitation activities along with creating a countermeasures solution necessary when G-S muscle experience disuse.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Analyzing Gastrocnemius-Soleus Muscle activity on Velcroid sloping surfaces during different tasks in Human Body","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-04-30 10:16:46","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6409172/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":3}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"9f4d1deb-91ed-40e4-9e4a-d5584d85e344","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 30th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-08-11T09:39:04+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-04-30 10:16:46","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-6409172","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-6409172","identity":"rs-6409172","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}