Recent developments in near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for the assessment of local skeletal muscle microvascular function and capacity to utilise oxygen

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: saturation, muscle oxygen consumption ([Formula: see text]) and blood flow. This article provides a brief overview of the use of CW NIRS to measure exercise-limiting factors in skeletal muscle. RECENT FINDINGS: in the muscle have been developed based on response to physiological interventions and exercise. NIRS has good reproducibility and agreement with gold standard techniques and can be used in clinical populations where muscle oxidative capacity or oxygen delivery (or both) are impaired. CW NIRS has limitations including: the unknown contribution of myoglobin to the overall signals, the impact of adipose tissue thickness, skin perfusion during exercise, and variations in skin pigmentation. These, in the main, can be circumvented through appropriate study design or measurement of absolute tissue saturation. SUMMARY: delivery and utilisation without the use of expensive or invasive procedures and is useable in large population-based samples, including older adults.