Ahmad Alkhatib
Abertay University, UK
Title: Microvascular responses to exercise training, using a novel non-invasive approach: A study protocol
Biography
Biography: Ahmad Alkhatib
Abstract
Dermal-based vascular measurements have become popular non-invasive techniques to detect and track low-frequency perfusion changes in microcirculation. For example, photoplethysmography (PPG) and laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) are now well recognized optical techniques that have been used in human studies to track endothelial vascular activity in healthy humans and patients with endothelial microcirculatory dysfunction. Most recent work has developed algorithms to track microvascular tone changes through temperature signals oscillations, following local heating and cooling tests (Microtest, http://fm-diagnostics.com). Endothelial, neurogenic and myogenic temperature oscillations (0.01-0.14 Hz) calculated using inverse wavelet transform. The tests have been shown to be sensitive to changes in healthy subjects and in patients with metabolic disorder such as type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome. With exercise training being known as a preventative and treatment method for reversing endothelial dysfunction, such techniques can be an effective diagnostic methods to detect the exercise-dependent outcomes. Changes in LDF endothelial activity outcomes have been previously shown to be enhanced following exercise training; it is yet not known whether the newly developed technique Microtest can detect such exercise dependent outcomes. The aim of this study protocol is to determine, in healthy subjects, the clinically meaningful microcirculatory endothelial activity changes following a period of exercise training.