Measurement of regional oxidative metabolism in muscle using near-infrared spectroscopy

Blood flow and oxygen supply to skeletal muscle is a potentially important factor to maintain muscular oxygenation metabolism. In clinical usage, a well-functioned noninvasive system for measuring the muscular blood flow and metabolism is needed. Recently, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been developed and become a useful technique for noninvasive monitoring of the regional oxygen supply. From this point of view, the authors proposed a new system to monitor and evaluate the regional oxygen saturation rSO2 and volume of hemoglobin using hemoglobin index (HbI) more simply and inexpensively for clinical application. The aim of this study is to estimate the oxygen metabolism in human muscles during physical exercise by using NIRS system and cycle ergometry