This image shows Michael Günther

Michael Günther

Dr. rer. nat.

Senior Research associate

Contact

+49 711 685 68248

Nobelstraße 15
70569 Stuttgart
Deutschland
Room: 00.065

Subject

Reduced biomechanical modelling of
  • skeletal muscles
  • the three-segment leg
  • arthropod climbing
  • soft tissue dynamics (wobbling masses)

Neuro-musculo-skeletal modelling and simulation (forward dynamics) of human gait and stance

Experimental analysis of human running, jumping and stance

Inverse dynamics of locomotion and human stance

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  1. 2023

    1. Rockenfeller R, Günther M, Hooper SL. Sarcomere mechanics in the double-actin-overlap zone. Biophysical Journal. 2023;122(17):3541–3.
    2. Christensen KB, Günther M, Schmitt S, Siebert T. Muscle wobbling mass dynamics: eigenfrequency dependencies on activity, impact strength, and ground material. Scientific Reports. 2023;13:19575 (12pp).
    3. Rockenfeller R, Günther M, Mörl F. Reports of deaths are an exaggeration: all-cause and NAA-test-conditional mortality in Germany during the SARS-CoV-2 era. Royal Society Open Science. 2023;10(8):221551.
    4. Mörl F, Günther M, Rockenfeller R. How many deaths can statistically be attributed to anti-SARS-CoV-2 injections? An analysis of German health data from 2021. International Journal of Vaccine Theory, Practice, and Research. 2023;3(1):1026–42.

  2. 2022

    1. Renjewski D, Lipfert SW, Günther M. The foot in walking -- towards developing a constrained model of stance phase dynamics. In: 18th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control (MSNDC). St.\,Louis, MO, USA: ASME; 2022. p. (7pp). (18th International Conference on Multibody Systems, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Control (MSNDC); vol. 9).
    2. Renjewski D, Lipfert SW, Günther M. Foot function enabled by human walking dynamics. Physical Review E [Internet]. 2022;106(6):064405. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.00.004400
    3. Günther M, Mörl F, Rockenfeller R. Where have the dead gone? Frontiers in Medicine. 2022;9:837287 (4pp).
    4. Rockenfeller R, Günther M, Hooper SL. Muscle active force-length curve explained by an electrophysical model of interfilament spacing. Biophysical Journal. 2022;121(10):1823–55.
    5. Mörl F, Günther M, Rockenfeller R. Is the harm-to-benefit ratio a key criterion in vaccine approval? Frontiers in Medicine. 2022;9:879120 (4pp).

  3. 2021

    1. Günther M, Mörl F. Giraffes and hominins: reductionist model predictions of compressive loads at the spine base for erect exponents of the animal kingdom. Biology Open. 2021;10(1):bio057224.
    2. Walter J, Günther M, Haeufle D, Schmitt S. Correction to:  A geometry- and muscle-based control architecture for synthesising biological movement. Biological Cybernetics [Internet]. 2021;(115):193. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-021-00869-7
    3. Christensen KB, Günther M, Schmitt S, Siebert T. Cross-bridge mechanics estimated from skeletal muscles’ work-loop responses to impacts in legged locomotion. Scientific Reports [Internet]. 2021;11:23638 (12pp). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-02819-6
    4. Günther M, Rockenfeller R, Weihmann T, Haeufle DFB, Götz T, Schmitt S. Rules of nature’s Formula Run: Muscle mechanics during late stance is the key to explaining maximum running speed. Journal of Theoretical Biology [Internet]. 2021;523:110714. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2021.110714
    5. Walter J, Günther M, Haeufle DFB, Schmitt S. A geometry- and muscle-based control architecture for synthesising biological movement. Biological Cybernetics [Internet]. 2021;115(1):7–37. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00422-020-00856-4

  4. 2020

    1. Rockenfeller R, Günther M, Stutzig N, Haeufle DFB, Siebert T, Schmitt S, et al. Exhaustion of skeletal muscle fibers within seconds: incorporating phosphate kinetics into a Hill-type model. Frontiers in Physiology [Internet]. 2020;11:306 (25pp). Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2020.00306
    2. Mörl F, Günther M, Riede JM, Hammer M, Schmitt S. Loads distributed in vivo among vertebrae, muscles, spinal ligaments, and intervertebral discs in a passively flexed lumbar spine. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology [Internet]. 2020 Dec 1;19(6):2015–47. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-020-01322-7
    3. Haeufle DFB, Wochner I, Holzmüller D, Driess D, Günther M, Schmitt S. Muscles reduce neuronal information load: quantification of control effort in biological vs robotic pointing and walking. Frontiers in Robotics and AI -- Soft Robotics [Internet]. 2020;7:77 (13pp). Available from: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frobt.2020.00077/full
    4. Günther M, Haeufle DFB, Schmitt S. Corrigendum to “The basic mechanical structure of the skeletal muscle machinery: One model for linking microscopic and macroscopic scales” Journal of Theoretical Biology 456 (2018) 137–167. Journal of Theoretical Biology [Internet]. 2020 Mar;488:110143. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jtbi.2019.110143

  5. 2019

    1. Schmitt S, Günther M, Haeufle DFB. The dynamics of the skeletal muscle: a systems biophysics perspective on muscle modeling with the focus on Hill-type muscle models. GAMM--Mitteilungen [Internet]. 2019;58:e201900013. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1002/gamm.201900013
    2. Hammer M, Günther M, Haeufle DFB, Schmitt S. Tailoring anatomical muscle paths: a sheath-like solution for muscle routing in musculo-skeletal computer models. Mathematical Biosciences [Internet]. 2019;311:68–81. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mbs.2019.02.004

  6. 2018

    1. Suissa D, Günther M, Shapiro A, Melzer I, Schmitt S. On laterally perturbed human stance: experiment, model, and control. Applied Bionics and Biomechanics [Internet]. 2018;4767624 (20pp). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4767624
    2. Günther M, Haeufle DFB, Schmitt S. The basic mechanical structure of the skeletal muscle machinery: One model for linking microscopic and macroscopic scales. Journal of Theoretical Biology [Internet]. 2018;456:137–67. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.07.023
    3. Rockenfeller R, Günther M. Inter-filament spacing mediates calcium binding to troponin: A simple geometric-mechanistic model explains the shift of force-length maxima with muscle activation. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 2018;454:240–52.

  7. 2017

    1. Rockenfeller R, Günther M. Hill equation and Hatze’s muscle activation dynamics complement each other: enhanced pharmacological and physiological interpretability of modelled activity-pCa curves. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 2017;431:11–24.
    2. Rockenfeller R, Günther M. How to model a muscle’s active force-length relation: A comparative study. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering. 2017;313:321–36.
    3. Bayer A, Schmitt S, Günther M, Haeufle DFB. The influence of biophysical muscle properties on simulating fast human arm movements. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering [Internet]. 2017;20(8):803–21. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/10255842.2017.1293663
    4. Christensen KB, Günther M, Schmitt S, Siebert T. Strain in shock-loaded skeletal muscle and the time scale of muscular wobbling mass dynamics. Scientific Reports [Internet]. 2017;7:13266 (11pp). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-13630-7
    5. Rockenfeller R, Günther M, Schmitt S, Götz T. Corrigendum to ``Comparative Sensitivity Analysis of Muscle Activation Dynamics’’. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine [Internet]. 2017;2017:2. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/6752731

  8. 2016

    1. Rockenfeller R, Günther M. Extracting low-velocity concentric and eccentric dynamic muscle properties from isometric contraction experiments. Mathematical Biosciences. 2016;278:77–93.
    2. Günther M, Wagner H. Dynamics of quiet human stance: computer simulations of a triple inverted pendulum model. Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering. 2016;19(8):819–34.

  9. 2015

    1. Weihmann T, Goetzke HH, Günther M. Requirements and limits of anatomy-based predictions of locomotion in terrestrial arthropods with emphasis on arachnids. Journal of Paleontology. 2015;89(6):980–90.
    2. Rupp TK, Ehlers W, Karajan N, Günther M, Schmitt S. A forward dynamics simulation of human lumbar spine flexion predicting the load sharing of intervertebral discs, ligaments, and muscles. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology [Internet]. 2015;14(5):1081–105. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-015-0656-2
    3. Rockenfeller R, Günther M, Schmitt S, Götz T. Comparative sensitivity analysis of muscle activation dynamics. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine [Internet]. 2015;585409 (16pp). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/585409

  10. 2014

    1. Rosenfeld EV, Günther M. An enhanced model of cross-bridge operation with internal elasticity. European Biophysics Journal. 2014;43(4–5):131–41.
    2. Lipfert SW, Günther M, Renjewski D, Seyfarth A. Impulsive ankle push-off powers leg swing in human walking. The Journal of Experimental Biology. 2014;217(Pt 8):1218–28.
    3. Haeufle DFB, Günther M, Wunner G, Schmitt S. Quantifying control effort of biological and technical movements: An information-entropy-based approach. Physical Review E [Internet]. 2014;89:012716. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.89.012716
    4. Haeufle DFB, Günther M, Bayer A, Schmitt S. Hill-type muscle model with serial damping and eccentric force-velocity relation. Journal of Biomechanics [Internet]. 2014;47(6):1531–6. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2014.02.009
    5. Siebert T, Till O, Stutzig N, Günther M, Blickhan R. Muscle force depends on the amount of transversal muscle loading. Journal of Biomechanics. 2014;47(8):1822–8.

  11. 2013

    1. Schmitt S, Günther M, Rupp TK, Bayer A, Haeufle DFB. Theoretical Hill-type muscle and stability: numerical model and application. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine [Internet]. 2013;570878 (7pp). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1155/2013/570878

  12. 2012

    1. Lipfert SW, Günther M, Renjewski D, Grimmer S, Seyfarth A. A model-experiment comparison of system dynamics for human walking and running. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 2012;292:11–7.
    2. Haeufle DFB, Günther M, Blickhan R, Schmitt S. Proof of concept: model based bionic muscle with hyperbolic force-velocity relation. Applied Bionics and Biomechanics [Internet]. 2012;9(3):267–74. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3233/ABB-2011-0052
    3. Weihmann T, Günther M, Blickhan R. Hydraulic leg-extension is not necessarily the main drive in large spiders. The Journal of Experimental Biology. 2012;215(Pt 4):578–83.
    4. Mörl F, Siebert T, Schmitt S, Blickhan R, Günther M. Electro-mechanical delay in Hill-type muscle models. Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology [Internet]. 2012;12(5):85–102. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1142/S0219519412500856
    5. Günther M, Haeufle DFB, Röhrle O, Schmitt S. Spreading out muscle mass within a Hill-type model: A computer simulation study. Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine [Internet]. 2012;848630 (13pp). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/848630
    6. Haeufle DFB, Günther M, Blickhan R, Schmitt S. Can quick release experiments reveal the muscle structure? A bionic approach. Journal of Bionic Engineering [Internet]. 2012;9(2):211–23. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-6529(11)60115-7
    7. Schmitt S, Haeufle DFB, Blickhan R, Günther M. Nature as an engineer: one simple concept of bio-inspired functional artificial muscle. Bioinspiration & Biomimetics [Internet]. 2012;7(3):036022 (9pp). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-3182/7/3/036022
    8. Siebert T, Günther M, Blickhan R. A 3D-geometric model for the deformation of a transversally loaded muscle. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 2012;298:116–21.
    9. Günther M, Weihmann T. Climbing in hexapods: A plain model for heavy slopes. Journal of Theoretical Biology. 2012;293:82–6.
    10. Günther M, Müller O, Blickhan R. What does head movement tell about the minimum number of mechanical degrees of freedom in quiet human stance? Archive of Applied Mechanics. 2012;82(3):333–44.

  13. 2011

    1. Günther M, Müller O, Blickhan R. Watching quiet human stance to shake off its straitjacket. Archive of Applied Mechanics. 2011;81(3):283–302.
    2. Günther M, Weihmann T. The load distribution among three legs on the wall: model predictions for cockroaches. Archive of Applied Mechanics. 2011;81(9):1269–87.
    3. Schmitt S, Günther M. Human leg impact: energy dissipation of wobbling masses. Archive of Applied Mechanics [Internet]. 2011;81(7):887–97. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00419-010-0458-z
    4. Günther M, Putsche P, Leistritz L, Grimmer S. Phase synchronisation of the three leg joints in quiet human stance. Gait & Posture. 2011;33(3):412–7.
    5. Günther M. Biomechanik: Eine Naturwissenschaft. In: Ertelt T, editor. Beiträge zur Bewegungswissenschaft. Hamburg: Verlag Dr. Kovac; 2011. p. 1–8. (Ertelt T, editor. Beiträge zur Bewegungswissenschaft; vol. 2).

  14. 2010

    1. Blickhan R, Günther M, Schmitt S. Vorrichtung zur Nachbildung des Bewegungsverhaltens eines natürlichen Muskels. Europäisches Patentamt; 2010. Report No.: PCT/DE 2010/000160.
    2. Günther M, Schmitt S. A macroscopic ansatz to deduce the Hill relation. Journal of Theoretical Biology [Internet]. 2010;263(4):407–18. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtbi.2009.12.027
    3. Roth R, Wank V, Müller O, Hochwald H, Günther M. A simple new device to examine human stance: the totter-slab. Biomedizinische Technik. 2010;55(1):27–38.

  15. 2009

    1. Lipfert SW, Günther M, Seyfarth A. Diverging times in movement analysis. Journal of Biomechanics. 2009;42(6):786–8.
    2. Günther M, Grimmer S, Siebert T, Blickhan R. All leg joints contribute to quiet human stance: a mechanical analysis. Journal of Biomechanics. 2009;42(16):2739–46.

  16. 2008

    1. Grimmer S, Ernst M, Günther M, Blickhan R. Running on uneven ground: leg adjustment to vertical steps and self-stability. The Journal of Experimental Biology. 2008;211(Pt 18):2989–3000.
    2. Günther M, Otto D, Müller O, Blickhan R. Transverse pelvic rotation during quiet human stance. Gait & Posture. 2008;27(3):361–7.
    3. Blickhan R, Günther M, Schmitt S. Vorrichtung zur Nachbildung des Bewegungsverhaltens eines natürlichen Muskels. Deutsches Patent- und Markenamt; 2008. Report No.: DE 10 2008 058 604.8.

  17. 2007

    1. Günther M, Schmitt S, Wank V. High-frequency oscillations as a consequence of neglected serial damping in Hill-type muscle models. Biological Cybernetics. 2007;97(1):63–79.
    2. Blickhan R, Seyfarth A, Geyer H, Grimmer S, Wagner H, Günther M. Intelligence by mechanics. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. 2007;365(1850):199–220.

  18. 2006

    1. Blickhan R, Seyfarth A, Wagner H, Friedrichs A, Günther M, Maier KD. Robust behaviour of the human leg. In: Kimura H, Tsuchiya K, Ishiguro A, Witte H, editors. Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines. New York: Springer; 2006. p. 5–16. (Kimura H, Tsuchiya K, Ishiguro A, Witte H, editors. Adaptive Motion of Animals and Machines).

  19. 2005

    1. Günther M, Witte H, Blickhan R. Joint energy balances: the commitment to the synchronization of measuring systems. Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology. 2005;5(1):139–49.
    2. Blickhan R, Wank V, Günther M. Energieabsorption, Energiespeicherung und Arbeit bei schneller Lokomotion über unebenes Terrain. In: Pfeiffer F, Cruse H, editors. Autonomes Laufen [Internet]. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer; 2005. p. 71–96. (Pfeiffer F, Cruse H, editors. Autonomes Laufen). Available from: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/3-540-26453-1_5

  20. 2004

    1. Müller O, Günther M, Krauß I, Horstmann T. Physikalische Charakterisierung des Therapiegerätes Posturomed als Messgerät -- Vorstellung eines Verfahrens zur Quantifizierung des Balancevermögens. Biomedizinische Technik. 2004;49(3):56–60.
    2. Günther M, Keppler V, Seyfarth A, Blickhan R. Human leg design: optimal axial alignment under constraints. Journal of Mathematical Biology. 2004;48(6):623–46.

  21. 2003

    1. Günther M, Ruder H. Synthesis of two-dimensional human walking: a test of the $łambda$-model. Biological Cybernetics. 2003;89(2):89–106.
    2. Günther M, Sholukha VA, Keßler D, Wank V, Blickhan R. Dealing with skin motion and wobbling masses in inverse dynamics. Journal of Mechanics in Medicine and Biology. 2003;3(3/4):309–35.

  22. 2002

    1. Seyfarth A, Geyer H, Günther M, Blickhan R. A movement criterion for running. Journal of Biomechanics. 2002;35(5):649–55.
    2. Günther M, Blickhan R. Joint stiffness of the ankle and the knee in running. Journal of Biomechanics. 2002;35(11):1459–74.

  23. 2001

    1. Seyfarth A, Günther M, Blickhan R. Stable operation of an elastic three-segment leg. Biological Cybernetics. 2001;84(5):365–82.

  24. 1997

    1. Günther M. Computersimulationen zur Synthetisierung des muskulär erzeugten menschlichen Gehens unter Verwendung eines biomechanischen Mehrkörpermodells [Internet]. [Tübingen, Germany]: Eberhard-Karls-Universität; 1997. Available from: https://biomechanicsbiorobotics.info/tatbiomechanik/publ/diss/michaelguenther/diss.pdf

  25. 1994

    1. Ruder H, Ertl T, Gruber K, Günther M, Hospach F, Ruder M, et al. Kinematics and dynamics for computer animation. In: Coquillart S, Straßer W, Stucki P, editors. From Object Modelling to Advanced Visual    Communication. Berlin: Springer; 1994. p. 76–117. (Coquillart S, Straßer W, Stucki P, editors. From Object Modelling to Advanced Visual    Communication).

  26. 1993

    1. Ertl T, Ruder H, Allrutz R, Gruber K, Günther M, Hospach F, et al. Interactive control of biomechanical animation. The Visual Computer. 1993;9:459–65.

Scientific Education

  • 1997: Dr. rer. nat. doctorate (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, pdf, ps.zip)
  • 1990: Diploma in Physics (University of Stuttgart)
  • 1983: Academic Studies in Physics (University of Stuttgart)

Professional Experience

  • 2010: Research Associate at the Locomotion Lab (formely Friedrich Schiller University Jena, now: Technical University Darmstadt) and Department of Sport and Exercise Science (University of Stuttgart)
  • 2004-2010: DFG-Projekt "Neuro-muscular control of human stance: experimental analysis, biomechanical modelling and computer synthesis" (Eberhard Karls University Tübingen and Friedrich Schiller University Jena)
  • 2004: Research Fellow at the Institute of Systematic Zoology and Evolutionary Biology (Friedrich Schiller University Jena)
  • 2003: Research Fellow in "fortüne" Forschungsförderung (Klinikum Eberhard Karls University Tübingen)
  • 2002: Research Fellow in DFG-Schwerpunktprogramm "Autonomes Laufen" (Eberhard Karls University Tübingen)
  • 1997-2001: Research Fellow in DFG-Schwerpunktprogramm "Autonomes Laufen" (Friedrich Schiller University Jena)
  • since 2000: Society for Experimental Biology
  • since 1991: Member of the (former) AG Biomechanik at the Theoretical Astrophysics Section in Tübingen (TAT), Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Eberhard Karls University Tübingen
  • since 1988: Track-and-field Coach (C-license)
  • 2008/2009: Application for a patent of an apparatus to generate the contractile characteristics of biological muscles in cooperation with Prof. Reinhard Blickhan (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) and Dr. Syn Schmitt
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