Abstract
Color doppler imaging was used to measure the blood flow of the descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery which supplies the rectus femoris muscle. Blood velocity rates in the rectus femoris muscle were measured before and after dynamic knee flexion and extension exercise. The mean velocity of the blood flow increased approximately six times greater than before the exercise, and recovered in 30 minutes. A previous, preliminary study by Hayashi et al. indicated that the intensity of MRI in the skeletal muscles increases with dynamic exercise and returns to pre-exercise levels after about 60 minutes. The changes in the blood flow were thought to be one causative factor of the changes in the intensity of MRI of the skeletal muscles before and after exercise.
