Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
201,683 studies31 sourcesUpdated 27 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0PLOS One

Beyond mid-thigh: Ultrasound assessment of hamstring muscle architecture at multiple muscle lengths in relation to strength

  • Gulsah Karaca Yilmaz1
  • Ali Cihan Dagli2,3
  • Omer Batin Gozubuyuk4
  • Nazif Ekin Akalan5,6
  • Sergen Devran7
  • Meryem Merve Oren Celik8
  • Bulent Bayraktar7
8 affiliations
  1. 1Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  2. 2School of Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
  3. 3Cyber-physical Health and Assistive Robotics Technologies Research Group, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
  4. 4Back, Neck and Joint, Melbourne, Australia
  5. 5Istanbul Kültür University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation, Istanbul, Turkey
  6. 6Istanbul Kültür University, Motion Analysis Centre, Istanbul, Turkey
  7. 7Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Sports Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
  8. 8Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health, Istanbul, Turkey
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the relationship between ultrasound-based muscle architecture parameters and isometric knee flexor muscle strength in healthy individuals, and to evaluate whether distal (25%) and proximal (75%) measurement sites differ in their ability to reflect muscle strength compare to the commonly used mid-thigh (50%) region. Methods: Isometric muscle strength was measured in 20 healthy (22.15 ± 2.41 y; 8 females, 12 males) participants using a hand-held dynamometer. Ultrasound parameters (cross-sectional area, muscle thickness, pennation angle) of the biceps femoris-long head, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus were measured at 25%, 50%, and 75% of thigh length. Associations between strength and ultrasound-based parameters were examined using multiple linear regression analysis. Results: Moderate-to-high correlations (r = 0.615–0.815) were observed between muscle strength and cross-sectional area for all muscles at 50%. The regression model explained 89% of the variance in muscle strength (p < 0.001). Notably, the cross-sectional area of the semimembranosus and the total hamstring cross-sectional area at 25% length demonstrated strong correlations with muscle strength (r = 0.907 and 0.802, respectively). At 75%, the cross-sectional area of the semimembranosus showed a non-significant association with strength, while it could not be measured for the semitendinosus and biceps femoris-long head due to anatomical limitations. Muscle thickness showed significant correlations for the semitendinosus and semimembranosus (r = 0.702 and 0.698, respectively), whereas pennation angle demonstrated weaker and inconsistent relationships. Conclusions: The cross-sectional area of the semimembranosus at 50% of muscle length showed the strongest ultrasound-based predictor of isometric muscle strength. However, measurement at the distal site demonstrated robust associations, suggesting this region may serve as a practical alternative. In contrast, proximal measurements were limited and showed non-significant associations with strength. These findings can help expand the clinical and research applications of ultrasound imaging for assessing hamstring strength. Given the exploratory nature of this study, these findings should be interpreted cautiously.

Related

  1. 3D ultrasound fascicle tractography for objective muscle architecture analysis.
    P. Tecchio, L. Schlaffke, B. Bolsterlee +2
    bioRxivPreprintCC BY-NC-NDFull textSystems & synthetic biologybioRxiv
  2. Relation-aware dynamic knowledge subgraph enhanced large language models for medical multiple-choice question answering
    Yu Ma, Tianning Di, Jiangpeng Xu +1
    PLOS OnePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textEvolutionary biologyNeurosciencePLOS
  3. Glymphatic Imaging in Multiple Sclerosis: Microstructural Constraints on DTI-ALPS and Clinical Relevance of gBOLD-CSF Coupling in Relation to Sleep and Disability
    R. Sharifpour, S. Elands, J. Hrabovecky +3
    bioRxivPreprintCC BY-NC-NDFull textNeurosciencebioRxiv
  4. Diagnostic Value of Gastrointestinal Ultrasound (GIUS), Including Doppler and Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound (CEUS), in the Assessment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease Activity: A Scoping Review
    Radosław Korczyk, Angelika Złotnik, Paweł Ścierski +3
    Journal of Clinical MedicinePeer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Full textGenetics & genomicsCrossrefEurope PMC
  5. State-Dependent 3D Enhancer Architecture Resolves a Shared Schizophrenia and Multiple Sclerosis Ketone and Lactate Sensing Logic Gate
    B. A. Krantz
    bioRxivPreprintCC BY-NC-NDFull textImmunologybioRxiv

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{yilmaz2026beyond,
  title = {{Beyond mid-thigh: Ultrasound assessment of hamstring muscle architecture at multiple muscle lengths in relation to strength}},
  author = {Gulsah Karaca Yilmaz and Ali Cihan Dagli and Omer Batin Gozubuyuk and Nazif Ekin Akalan and Sergen Devran and Meryem Merve Oren Celik and Bulent Bayraktar},
  journal = {PLOS One},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0361496},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361496},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Beyond mid-thigh: Ultrasound assessment of hamstring muscle architecture at multiple muscle lengths in relation to strength
AU  - Gulsah Karaca Yilmaz
AU  - Ali Cihan Dagli
AU  - Omer Batin Gozubuyuk
AU  - Nazif Ekin Akalan
AU  - Sergen Devran
AU  - Meryem Merve Oren Celik
AU  - Bulent Bayraktar
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/27
JO  - PLOS One
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pone.0361496
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0361496
AB  - Objectives: To investigate the relationship between ultrasound-based muscle architecture parameters and isometric knee flexor muscle strength in healthy individuals, and to evaluate whether distal (25%) and proximal (75%) measurement sites differ in their ability to reflect muscle strength compare to the commonly used mid-thigh (50%) region. Methods: Isometric muscle strength was measured in 20 healthy (22.15 ± 2.41 y; 8 females, 12 males) participants using a hand-held dynamometer. Ultrasound parameters (cross-sectional area, muscle thickness, pennation angle) of the biceps femoris-long head, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus were measured at 25%, 50%, and 75% of thigh length. Associations between strength and ultrasound-based parameters were examined using multiple linear regression analysis. Results: Moderate-to-high correlations (r = 0.615–0.815) were observed between muscle strength and cross-sectional area for all muscles at 50%. The regression model explained 89% of the variance in muscle strength (p < 0.001). Notably, the cross-sectional area of the semimembranosus and the total hamstring cross-sectional area at 25% length demonstrated strong correlations with muscle strength (r = 0.907 and 0.802, respectively). At 75%, the cross-sectional area of the semimembranosus showed a non-significant association with strength, while it could not be measured for the semitendinosus and biceps femoris-long head due to anatomical limitations. Muscle thickness showed significant correlations for the semitendinosus and semimembranosus (r = 0.702 and 0.698, respectively), whereas pennation angle demonstrated weaker and inconsistent relationships. Conclusions: The cross-sectional area of the semimembranosus at 50% of muscle length showed the strongest ultrasound-based predictor of isometric muscle strength. However, measurement at the distal site demonstrated robust associations, suggesting this region may serve as a practical alternative. In contrast, proximal measurements were limited and showed non-significant associations with strength. These findings can help expand the clinical and research applications of ultrasound imaging for assessing hamstring strength. Given the exploratory nature of this study, these findings should be interpreted cautiously.
SN  - 1932-6203
ER  -