A Piezo Electric Myograph

Abstract

In the experiments here reported, the piezo-electric properties of Rochelle Salt crystal have been employed to record the tension developed by contracting muscle. For references to the literature on the piezo-electric effect the reader may consult the comprehensive bibliography of W. G. Cady.1 The widespread use of the piezo-electric effect for measuring forces and pressures lead to its consideration as a means of recording muscular tension. It offers an instantaneous response without friction, inertia or moving parts, which is particularly well adapted to the measurement of the tension developed in striated muscle in an isometric contraction in which tension rises to a maximum in about 30 sigma. Although our work is incomplete, the results obtained indicate the useful possibilities of the method.Through the courtesy of C. Baldwin Sawyer of the Brush Development Laboratories, Cleveland, we were supplied with a Rochelle salt crystal designed especially for muscle physiology. This crystal, G, Fig. 1, is a f...