A nonlinear rheological model for active and passive skeletal muscle

Anexisting rheological model of skeletal muscle (Forcinito et al., 1998) was modified with a nonlinear Maxwell fluid element to provide a phenomenological model capable of analyzing the strain-stiffening behavior typically found in passive, and occasionally observed in active, skeletal muscle. This new model describes both active and passive muscular behavior as a combination of the behavior of each model component, without requiring prior knowledge of the force-length or force-velocity characteristics of the muscle.