The laboratory of Physiology and neuromuscular evaluation is
increasingly involved in clinical projects. Our role is to evaluate the muscle force as well as the functional capacity of patients in order to follow the development of their disease, either its natural history or to measure the efficacy of a treatment.
These evaluations will also be performed in healthy subjects to develop normative databases of muscle force or to study the natural ageing process.
In 2005, Yannick Noah, the Telethon’s sponsor at that time, met Julien, the Myology Institute’s goodwill ambassador. He also visited the laboratory and carried out a few muscle tests.
These studies include quantitative muscle analyses by manual Testing (MMT), quantified Testing (QMT), Biodex…and functional capacity analyses thanks to various tests: timed tests, 6 minute walk, measure of motor unit function etc.
These evaluations require an accurate practice and expert skills. For each protocol, specific operating instructions are written and respected in order to guarantee the reproducibility and reliability of the transmitted results.
The Grip test, developed in our laboratory, currently represents one
of the only localised strength tests allowing to evaluate in only one
session the maximum grip strength, the fatigue resistance and muscle
metabolism during strength training.
This test is increasingly being used in hospital wards, in France and
abroad, to replace the painful test known as “the garrotte”.
As of June 2007, nearly 900 patients have benefited from the GRIP test.
Launched in 2006 during the Telethon, the Myotools protocol’s main objective is to develop a normative database of force for several muscle functions (right and left). It concerns the palmaire grip strength, the flexion/extension strength of the wrist and the flexion/extension strength of the ankle. Measurements are carried out thanks to tools developed in the Laboratory.
The secondary objective of Myotools is to study the reproducibility of these measurements. It is known that the measurement of force fluctuates for intrinsic reasons (e.g. in the same person the muscular capacity can vary with time). However, it is essential that external methodological data have no influence on this intrinsic physiological variability in order to achieve a satisfactory reproducibility. During clinical trials, the efficacy of therapies can be evaluated by means of force measurements or force couples delivered by the muscle or the group of treated muscles. The goal is to be able to position patients in relation to a standard. For this protocol, 450 healthy individuals will participate in these measurements; since June 2007, 120 people have already performed the tests.
