Tetanus-induced fatigue
Tetanus is a highly energy consumptive process. While it can generate large amounts of force, this force cannot be sustained for long. In this simulation you will be looking at two types of tetanus-induced fatigue.
The first type of tetanus-induced fatigue occurs at the later stages of a burst of tetanus. If the stimuli are applied for a long time, the muscle will no longer be able to sustain the same force of contraction. This will result in a gradual decline in the force of contraction.
The second type of tetanus-induced fatigue exists when the time period between two different bursts of tetanus is too brief. In this case, the muscle has not had sufficient time to recover from the initial burst of tetanus. As you will see in this simulation, this will result in the second burst of tetanus causing a lower peak in force of contraction.