Alternatives Database

Muscle Physiology

An interactive menu-driven program which simulates experiments on the isolated frog sciatic nerve - gastrocnemius muscle preparation to illustrate physiological properties of skeletal muscle. The program covers: removal of the preparation; apparatus and method; a series of experiments, in which high resolution graphic simulations of muscle contractions and compound nerve action potentials (CNAP) from sciatic nerve, derived from real experimental data, are displayed in a form similar to an oscilloscope screen or chart-recorder. Experiments include: stimulus voltage/response relationships, summation, tetanus, length-tension relationship (in sartorius muscle), action of curare (on muscle and CNAP). Each experiment is prefaced by introductory text and experiment guide and includes assignements for students to complete.

Language Versions: English

Recommended System Requirements:

Windows:

• Microsoft Windows XP (32 bit), Windows Server 2003 (32-bit), Windows Server 2008 (32 bit), Windows Vista (32 bit), Windows 7 (32 bit and 64 bit), Windows 8
• 2.33GHz or faster x86-compatible processor, or Intel Atom 1.6GHz or faster processor for netbooks
• 128MB of RAM (1GB of RAM recommended for netbooks); 128MB of graphics memory
• Internet Explorer 7.0 or later, Mozilla Firefox 4.0 or later, Google Chrome, Safari 5.0 or later, or Opera 11

Mac OS:

• Mac OS X v10.6, v10.7, or v10.8
• Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz or faster processor
• 256MB of RAM; 128MB of graphics memory
• Safari 5.0 or later, Mozilla Firefox 4.0 or later, Google Chrome, or Opera 11

Target Audience: Undergraduate medical, veterinary, dentistry and biological/biomedical science students.

Price: £250 (multiuser, educational license)