Abstract
Aerobic exercise therapy is recommended to prevent and improve life-style related diseases and diabetes mellitus (DM). Heart rate and subjective symptom are used as indices when aerobic exercises are performed. The peripheral capillary observation unit M320 (JMC Co., Kyoto, Japan) was developed to observe capillaries and erythrocyte movement on a PC monitor, and noninvasively analyze capillary blood flow velocity in proximal nail folds. This study was performed to evaluate changes in peripheral blood flow using M320 and thermography (SC620, FLIR Co., USA). Seven healthy men performed bicycle ergometer aerobic exercise tests for 20 min. Thermography was performed and their heart rate was monitored during and until 10 min after exercise. Capillaries in the proximal nail folds of the 4th finger of the right hand were observed and capillary blood flow velocity analyzed before and after aerobic exercise. One-way repeated-measure ANOVAs and multiple comparison tests were used to analyze heart rate and skin temperature, whereas paired t-test was used to analyze mean blood flow velocity. Statistical significance was set at P<0.05. Mean heart rate before exercise (68±3 bpm) significantly increased after 4, 7, 10, 11, and 13-20 min of exercise. The temperature of the 4th finger of the left finger also significantly increased from baseline (34.0±0.3°C) after 6-10 min of exercise. The temperature of the left big toe also showed significant differences, with the temperature at the beginning of exercise (31.5±0.4°C) dropping after 8 min of exercise (28.8±0.4°C). The mean blood flow velocity significantly increased (after: 133.1±2.2 μm/s, before: 124.6±3.4 μm/s). In conclusion, this study showed it is easy to observe improvements in peripheral blood flow using the M320 unit and thermography. This technique may help people understand the effects of proper exercise.
