Evaluation of functional properties of skeletal muscle using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Abstract

Muscle functional magnetic resonance imaging (mfMRI) is a powerful tool for the visualization of anatomical and functional properties (e.g. levels and patterns of activation) of human skeletal muscles. Fleckenstein et al.¹⁾ first reported that working muscles exert acute effects on MRI signals in 1988, and since this time a lot of attempts have been made to assess function and metabolism of activated muscles in healthy and diseased individuals. This review focuses on five aspects of mfMRI; 1) The relation between mfMRI and other functional parameters of working muscles; 2) Muscle activation patterns during single- and multi-joint exercises; 3) The effect of resistance training on mfMRI; 4) The effect of disuse on mfMRI; and 5) The assessment of inhomogenous activation within a single muscle by mfMRI. Finally future application and potential contribution of mfMRI are discussed.