Influence of functional magnetic stimulation on the circumference of the biceps brachii muscle

Funkcionalna magnetna stimulacija (FMS) je neinvazivna metoda z širokim spektrom pozitivnih učinkov, ki jih uporabljamo na področju medicine, fizioterapije in estetike. Na področju estetike se FMS uporablja za krepitev zdravih mišic. Pregled literature je pokazal pomanjkanje raziskav na področju estetike, ki bi predstavljale kvantitativno pridobljene rezultate. Namen magistrske naloge je bil izvesti preliminarno študijo spremljanja spreminjanja obsega sredine nadlakti (MUAC) in premera dvoglave nadlaktne mišice kot posledico FMS terapij. Magistrska naloga je sestavljena iz uvodnega teoretičnega dela, ki predstavi anatomske in fiziološke osnove, ki so potrebne za razumevanje magistrske naloge. Poleg tega smo pojasnili tudi osnovni fizikalni princip magnetne stimulacije živcev in teoretično ozadje uporabljenih merilnih metod. V drugem delu magistrske naloge je predstavljen protokol po katerem smo izvedli študijo in pridobljeni rezultati. Na vzorcu sedmih zdravih odraslih moških (starost od do) smo izvedli deset FMS terapij. Merili smo obseg sredine nadlakti (MUAC) in premer dvoglave nadlaktne mišice, ki smo ga odčitali iz ultrazvočnih posnetkov nadlakti. Izmerili smo napetosti, ki so bile potrebne, da smo izvali kontrakcijo dvoglave nadlaktne mišice pri različno dolgih dražljajih. Izmerjene vrednosti napetosti v odvisnosti od dolžine dražljaja smo uporabili za izris intenzivnostno-časovne (IT) krivulje in izračun njenih parametrov. Analizirali smo tudi frekvenčni spekter elektromiografskega (EMG) signala. Rezultati vključujejo meritve MUAC in premera dvoglave nadlaktne mišice pred prvo terapijo, po prvi terapiji, pred zadnjo terapijo, po zadnji terapiji in tri tedne po zadnji terapiji. Izmerjena razlika vrednosti premera dvoglave nadlaktne mišice pred terapijami in po terapijah izkazujejo statistično pomembo različnost med tretirano in kontrolno roko. Prikazana hipertrofija se do neke mere odraža tudi v zmanjšanju kronaksije, ki je parameter IT krivulje, in v premikih median frekvenčnih spektrov EMG signalov proti višjim frekvencam. Zaključimo lahko, da je FMS učinkovita metoda za doseganje hipertrofije mišic in da FMS najverjetneje povečuje delež FT mišičnih vlaken.Functional magnetic stimulation (FMS) is a non-invasive method wide a wide range of beneficial effect that are being utilized in medicine, physiotherapy, and aesthetics. In aesthetics, FMS is used for strengthening of healthy muscles. A literature search has shown a lack of studies in the field of aesthetics that represent quantitative data. The aim of this master’s thesis was to carry out a preliminary study that will monitor the changes of middle upper arm circumference (MUAC) and the diameter of the bicep muscles before and after the series of FMS treatments. The thesis is composed of the theoretical part that explains the basic anatomical and physiological principles that are needed to understand this thesis. It also illustrates the basic principles of FMS and the used measuring methods. The second part of the thesis presents the used protocol, the results, and the conclusions of the study. We did ten FMS therapies on seven healthy adult men. We measured MUAC and the diameter of the bicep that we got from ultrasound images of the upper arm. We also measured the voltages needed for exiting a minimal contraction with different lengths of the stimuli. The voltages and stimuli lengths were then used to draw an intensity-time (IT) curve as well as calculate its parameters. Another objective of this study was the assessment of muscle composition in the sense of fast-twitch (FT)/ slow-twitch (ST) muscles fiber ratio in respect to FMS therapies. We assess the muscle composition through the analysis of frequency spectrum of electromyography (EMG) signal. The results show MUAC and bicep diameter measurements before and after the first therapy, before and after the last therapy, and three weeks after the last therapy. The measured values illustrate a statistically significant distinction between the treated and the control arm in the difference between bicep diameter measured before the first therapy and after the last therapy. An increase in chronaxie and the shift in the median of the EMG frequency spectrum towards higher frequencies point to a connection between these two parameters and the hypertrophy of the muscles. We can conclude the FMS is an efficient method of achieving muscle hypertrophy and that FMS must likely result in an increase in FM muscle fibers