Principles and biomechanics of muscle tendon unit transfer: Application in temporalis muscle tendon transposition for smile improvement in facial paralysis

Muscle tendon unit (MTU) transfer is a common procedure performed to restore hand function after peripheral nerve or spinal cord injury. The principles of MTU transfer established for hand surgery can be adopted to optimize the dynamic excursion of the temporalis tendon transfer procedure for facial reanimation. Additionally, the force generating ability of a transferred MTU depends on the ideal length-tension relationship of the donor muscle. There are unclear guideline for selecting the ideal tension at which a transferred MTU will generate maximum force and excursion and current practice often leads to overstretch and suboptimal actin myosin interaction. The use of intraoperative electrical stimulation is an option for determining the ideal tension to optimize excursion of transferred temporalis tendon units in simile restoration. Understanding the biomechanics and principles of MTU and applying it to the temporalis tendon transfer procedure is necessary to improve its use in facial reanimation.