Propagation of shear waves in muscle tissue

A mathematical model of the propagation of acoustic shear waves in muscle tissue is considered. Muscle is modeled as an incompressible transversely isotropic viscoelastic continuum with quasi-one-dimensional active tension. There are two types of shear waves in an infinite medium. Waves of the second type (transverse) propagate without decay even when myofibril viscosity is taken into account. A problem of standing transverse waves in a rectangular layer was investigated numerically. The values of the problem parameters are found for which one can easily estimate the active tension (or muscle tone) from the characteristics of standing waves. This value is informative for diagnostics of the muscle state.