A generic morphological model of a muscle group--application to the muscles of the forearm.

In the present paper some aspects of the morphology of muscles in muscle groups are investigated modelwise. The analysis is initiated by the observation that the skeletal surfaces of the body are too small to provide the origin area for all muscles, and that therefore they must be enlarged by aponeuroses of muscular origin. These aponeuroses provide flexible surfaces of origin which allow to adapt the individual muscle shape to the various spaces available in the body, and to optimize their configuration in muscle groups. The shape of these origin surfaces determines the shape of the muscles and of their end tendons; this relationship is closely investigated. The models are illustrated by dissection examples of the muscle groups at the elbow,and may find an application in the teaching of clinical anatomy.