Relative tension and potential excursion of muscles in the forearm and hand.

Muscle strength varies enormously from person to person and even from time to time, but the ratio of strength from muscle within the same limb varies much less. The mass or volume of a muscle is proportional to its work capacity, and the fiber length of a muscle is proportional to its potential excursion. By dividing the fiber length into the volume of each muscle, the cross-sectional area of the muscle was determined, and a list of relative tension capacities of forearm and hand muscles was prepared. Although based on a small number of specimens, this list has the first data on forearm and hand muscles which should be of practical use in planning the operation of tendon transfer.