Musculotendon Parameters of the Human Upper Limb: a Scoping Review and Dataset Aggregation
Abstract
Understanding skeletal muscle function is fundamental to biomechanics, rehabilitation, and sports science, yet the field lacks a comprehensive synthesis of seven key musculotendon parameters (physiological cross sectional area, maximal isometric force, optimal fiber length, fiber length, pennation angle, tendon slack length, and contraction velocity) for the human upper limb. This scoping review aims to address this gap in the literature. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we conducted a scoping review aggregating data from 107 studies and 3742 individuals to create a reference database of upper limb musculotendon parameters and provide guidelines to the community. The seven parameters are reported across 50 muscles, with physiological cross sectional area documented in all 50 muscles, maximal isometric force in 7 muscles, optimal fiber length in 49, fiber length in 48, pennation angle in all 50, tendon slack length in 40, and contraction velocity in one. Our findings are aggregated in an open-access database, interactive visualization website and software, enabling reproducible analysis and future data integration. We discuss common hypotheses on in-vivo and cadaver derived physiological cross sectional area measurements, cadaver preservation methods and values for specific tension and maximum contraction velocity. The literaturederived parameters are also compared with those used in three leading OpenSim musculoskeletal models.
Key PointsAn open-access dataset of musculotendon-unit parameters and architectural measurements for 50 human upper limb muscles from 107 studies was compiled, providing the most comprehensive reference values available for this muscle group.
Cadaver preservation method did not significant impact physiological crosssectional area, maximum contraction velocity can be reasonably estimated as ten times optimal fiber length per second, and values of specific tension computed from the dataset were consistent with existing literature.
Recommended ranges for musculotendon-unit parameter calibration are provided, showing that the standard parameters used in three widely adopted upper limb models frequently fall outside the range of aggregated literature values.
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BibTeX
@article{schegg2026musculotendon,
title = {{Musculotendon Parameters of the Human Upper Limb: a Scoping Review and Dataset Aggregation}},
author = {Pierre Schegg and Valentin Maggioni and Baptiste Faraud and François Bailly},
journal = {Sports Medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
url = {https://inria.hal.science/hal-05796816v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Musculotendon Parameters of the Human Upper Limb: a Scoping Review and Dataset Aggregation
AU - Pierre Schegg
AU - Valentin Maggioni
AU - Baptiste Faraud
AU - François Bailly
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
JO - Sports Medicine
UR - https://inria.hal.science/hal-05796816v1
AB - Understanding skeletal muscle function is fundamental to biomechanics, rehabilitation, and sports science, yet the field lacks a comprehensive synthesis of seven key musculotendon parameters (physiological cross sectional area, maximal isometric force, optimal fiber length, fiber length, pennation angle, tendon slack length, and contraction velocity) for the human upper limb. This scoping review aims to address this gap in the literature. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we conducted a scoping review aggregating data from 107 studies and 3742 individuals to create a reference database of upper limb musculotendon parameters and provide guidelines to the community. The seven parameters are reported across 50 muscles, with physiological cross sectional area documented in all 50 muscles, maximal isometric force in 7 muscles, optimal fiber length in 49, fiber length in 48, pennation angle in all 50, tendon slack length in 40, and contraction velocity in one. Our findings are aggregated in an open-access database, interactive visualization website and software, enabling reproducible analysis and future data integration. We discuss common hypotheses on in-vivo and cadaver derived physiological cross sectional area measurements, cadaver preservation methods and values for specific tension and maximum contraction velocity. The literaturederived parameters are also compared with those used in three leading OpenSim musculoskeletal models. Key PointsAn open-access dataset of musculotendon-unit parameters and architectural measurements for 50 human upper limb muscles from 107 studies was compiled, providing the most comprehensive reference values available for this muscle group. Cadaver preservation method did not significant impact physiological crosssectional area, maximum contraction velocity can be reasonably estimated as ten times optimal fiber length per second, and values of specific tension computed from the dataset were consistent with existing literature. Recommended ranges for musculotendon-unit parameter calibration are provided, showing that the standard parameters used in three widely adopted upper limb models frequently fall outside the range of aggregated literature values.
SN - 0112-1642
ER -