Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of GraphSearch.
Concept
Muscle biopsy
Summary
In medicine, a muscle biopsy is a procedure in which a piece of muscle tissue is removed from an organism and examined microscopically. A muscle biopsy can lead to the discovery of problems with the nervous system, connective tissue, vascular system, or musculoskeletal system.
In humans with weakness and low muscle tone, a muscle biopsy can help distinguish between myopathies (where the pathology is in the muscle tissue itself) and neuropathies (where the pathology is at the nerves innervating those muscles). Muscle biopsies can also help to distinguish among various types of myopathies, by microscopic analysis for differing characteristics when exposed to a variety of chemical reactions and stains.
However, in some cases the muscle biopsy alone is inadequate to distinguish between certain myopathies. For example, a muscle biopsy showing the nucleus pathologically located in the center of the muscle cell would indicate "centronuclear myopathy", but research has shown that a variety of myopathies can cause these centronuclear biopsy appearance, and hence the specific genetic testing becomes increasingly important.
Additionally muscle biopsy is the only certain way to clarify ones muscle fiber types. I.e. by undergoing a muscle biopsy one can get a clear picture of which type of muscles dominates his/her body.
A biopsy needle is usually inserted into a muscle, wherein a small amount of tissue remains. Alternatively, an "open biopsy" can be performed by obtaining the muscle tissue through a small surgical incision.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related publications (9)
Related concepts (4)
Myopathy
In medicine, myopathy is a disease of the muscle in which the muscle fibers do not function properly. This results in muscular weakness. Myopathy means muscle disease (Greek : myo- muscle + patheia -pathy : suffering). This meaning implies that the primary defect is within the muscle, as opposed to the nerves ("neuropathies" or "neurogenic" disorders) or elsewhere (e.g., the brain). Muscle cramps, stiffness, and spasm can also be associated with myopathy.
Electromyography
Electromyography (EMG) is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles. EMG is performed using an instrument called an electromyograph to produce a record called an electromyogram. An electromyograph detects the electric potential generated by muscle cells when these cells are electrically or neurologically activated. The signals can be analyzed to detect abnormalities, activation level, or recruitment order, or to analyze the biomechanics of human or animal movement.
Muscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophies (MD) are a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of rare neuromuscular diseases that cause progressive weakness and breakdown of skeletal muscles over time. The disorders differ as to which muscles are primarily affected, the degree of weakness, how fast they worsen, and when symptoms begin. Some types are also associated with problems in other organs. Over 30 different disorders are classified as muscular dystrophies.