Figure 2. Lateral view of the rat left hindlimb in the set-up.

Ankle and knee joints were at 90° around the transverse axis. The femur was fixed and the foot was attached to the load cell using custom-made clamps. Anatomical landmarks for ankle and knee joint were aligned with the set-up’s rotational axes. A marker was placed on the posterior side of the Achilles tendon, which was used to assess length (L_AT) and length changes of the distal part of the Achilles tendon. Positive ankle moments around the sagittal, transverse and vertical axis indicate inversion (inv.), dorsi-flexion (dorsi-flex.) and external rotation (ext.), respectively and are parallel to the x-, y- and z-axis of the load cell. In addition, d1_x and d1_z represent the distance from the center of the load cell to the center of the ankle joint in the x- and z-direction, respectively. LG: lateral gastrocnemius. Dotted vertical line represents the insertion site of the Achilles tendon.