Academic Information | IF=39.5! Xijian Technology, in collaboration with Professor Cao Yanping's team from the Institute of Biomechanics at Tsinghua University, has published a cutting-edge review of the skeletal muscle mechanics atlas

How do local muscles recover after exercise? What changes have occurred in the organizational state before and after rehabilitation intervention? For doctors, therapists, and researchers, these questions require a combination of information such as symptoms, structural imaging, functional testing, and more.

The muscle mechanics atlas adds a local tissue level observation dimension to the evaluation.It utilizes non-invasive measurement and mechanical analysis to present the mechanical characteristics of muscles at different positions, and provides a method for tracking the changes of these characteristics over time.

A cutting-edge review co authored by Professor Cao Yanping's team from the Institute of Biomechanics at Tsinghua University and researchers from Beijing Xijian Technology Co., LtdMechanics map of living muscles: Emerging technologies and clinical applicationsPublished online on September 8, 2026The Innovation (IF = 39.5, 2025）The article summarizes the technological progress, application research, and transformation challenges of muscle mechanics mapping.

The core focus of this review is how to transform the mechanical changes in muscles into measurable, interpretable, and trackable information.

Conventional ultrasound and magnetic resonance provide structural information, while strength testing reflects overall output capability. The mechanical diagram further focuses on:Whether there are differences in the mechanical properties and states of local muscles, as well as between different parts and at different times, under the prescribed posture and activity state.

Muscles have directional dependence, viscoelasticity, and active contraction ability. Training, stretching, injury, or illness may all be accompanied by changes in their mechanical characteristics. Combining these changes with structural and functional information can help study the relationship between muscle state and overall performance.

Therefore, to understand a mechanical diagram, it is necessary to simultaneously know the measurement site, muscle state, and testing conditions. Merely relying on the color of the elasticity chart or a "soft hard" value is not enough to determine whether the muscles are healthy.

The two types of techniques discussed in the article are shear wave elastography (SWE) and magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). They all obtain mechanical information through the fluctuation response within the organization, but their applicable scenarios have different emphases.

SWE shear wave elastography

Generate shear waves through acoustic radiation or mechanical excitation, and track the propagation of waves using ultrasound. The real-time and portable potential make it suitable for conducting bedside measurements, sports scene research, and repeated follow-up.

MRE Magnetic Resonance Elastography

Introducing mechanical vibration in magnetic resonance imaging and utilizing wave information to invert tissue mechanical properties. It provides a supplement for deep muscle groups and three-dimensional assessment, but equipment conditions, cost, and accessibility also need to be considered when using it.

When measuring wave speed, it is necessary to explain the wave speed.The shear wave velocity is usually expressed in m/s, and the modulus inverted by the model can be expressed in kPa; The correspondence between the two depends on the model assumptions and measurement conditions, and the measured modulus cannot be directly equivalent to muscle strength.

The same muscle may exhibit different responses during relaxation, passive stretching, and active exertion. The original text emphasizes incorporating active contraction into the mechanical model; The study cited by Xu et al. (Acta Biomaterialia, 2023) has explored the use of shear wave inversion to obtain active constitutive parameters of living muscles, providing a methodological basis for understanding these differences.

Machine learning can assist in tissue segmentation, motion artifact correction, and multimodal data fusion. The neural network method that introduces physical information attempts to incorporate mechanical laws into the solution. The article's discussion on big language models and intelligent agents mainly points to future information integration and reporting assistance, which still needs to be validated in specific applications.

How does mechanical information enter practical research? A recently published study on fatigue recovery provides specific examples. The study was published in Sports Medicine - Open and utilizedXi Jian Technology's portable ultrasound equipmentConduct measurements.

The study measured the passive shear modulus of bilateral biceps muscles in a standardized posture and observed that it changed over time, and the equivalent shear modulus was strongly correlated with fatigue level.

This example demonstrates that researchers can record changes in the same area at different times around clear tasks, and then cross reference them with strength, symptoms, or other functional indicators.

Starting from the direction of review and discussion, different teams can incorporate mechanical information into their respective research processes.

Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Team

What changes occurred in local tissues before and after intervention?

Record the mechanical indicators of the target muscle under consistent conditions, compare the changes before and after and bilateral differences, and combine them with pain, activity, muscle strength or functional scales to supplement local information for the study of the recovery process. Changes in indicators need to be verified separately from functional improvements.

Basic and Clinical Research Team

How are mechanical changes related to structure and function?

Research on the relationship between mechanical indicators and tissue composition, functional performance, and contraction response around sarcopenia, neuromuscular diseases, or tissue engineering. For disease screening or efficacy prediction, target population data and independent validation are still needed to determine the applicability of the indicators.

Equipment R&D and Conversion Partners

How to make data from different operators comparable?

Starting from the target muscle group and usage scenario, integrate incentive methods, collection processes, quality control, and parameter standards to evaluate repeatability and cross device differences. These steps determine whether a research indicator can enter a reusable workflow.

The review points out that cross device standardization, hierarchical reference databases, the mechanism connection between mechanics and functionality, as well as the accessibility of portable devices and analysis tools, are still key issues that need to be overcome in this field. The progress of wearable monitoring and intelligent analysis is also worth paying attention to.

To implement a study, it is necessary to first fix the posture, joint angle, measurement position, fiber direction, and activity status, record the loading history and collection conditions; Recheck the stability of repeated measurements; Finally, combining independent functional indicators, explore the actual meaning of the observed changes.

Xijian Technology conducts research and application exploration around quantitative technology of soft tissue mechanics. This joint review with Tsinghua University is also a review of our vision and goals. We will continue to deepen our cultivation of mechanical imaging technology and industrialization,I also hope to work with clinical and research partners to gradually accumulate reproducible measurement results and testable application evidence from clear application issues.

Research exchange and application cooperation

Starting from your research question

If you are studying sports recovery, rehabilitation intervention or muscle function, please contact us through the backstage of the "Xijian Technology" official account. Please introduce your research direction, target muscle groups, and application scenarios. We welcome discussions on research design and requirement validation together.

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Original link:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666675826003176

The content of this article comes fromCell PressCollaborative JournalThe InnovationVolume 7Commentarypublished“Mechanics map of living muscles: Emerging technologies and clinical applications”(Submission: June 22, 2026; Reception: September 7, 2026; Online Publication: September 8, 2026).

DOI:10.1016/j.xinn.2026.101570

Reference format:Ma S., Zheng Y. and Cao Y. (2026). Mechanics map of living muscles: Emerging technologies and clinical applications. The Innovation 7:101570.