The MU² Lab (Motor Unit × Muscle Ultrasound Lab) at Tel Aviv University investigates human muscle function through the integrated use of advanced surface electromyography and ultrasound-based imaging techniques. By combining high-density EMG-based motor unit decomposition, ultrasound-derived measures of muscle architecture and dynamics, and strain elastography–based assessments of tissue stiffness, the lab provides a rare, multiscale framework for studying neuromuscular function in vivo.

Research in the MU² Lab is organized around three core pillars:

(1) neuromuscular activation, quantified through motor unit behavior;

(2) muscle architecture and contractile dynamics, assessed using real-time dual-probe ultrasound imaging; 

(3) mechanical tissue properties, characterized via strain elastography.

 

Together, these complementary approaches enable a comprehensive examination of how neural drive, muscle structure, and tissue mechanics interact during functional movement.

The lab studies healthy individuals performing functional tasks, with a strong emphasis on establishing the psychometric properties (reliability, validity, and measurement error) of these emerging outcome measures.

 

This foundational work supports the lab’s long-term goal of elucidating the mechanisms underlying altered muscle function in pediatric populations, especially children with neurological conditions. The MU² Lab’s experimental focus at Tel Aviv University is closely aligned with, and complementary to, clinically driven research conducted at ALYN Hospital (MAaBL).