The innovative NIRS technology

NIRS stands for Near Infrared Spectroscopy and offers an innovative method for performance diagnostics and training control. Why?

NIRS technology can be used to determine performance level, existing potential, lactate threshold and much more very precisely without having to take blood. Our NIRS sensor IDIAG Moxy is placed directly on the working muscle and sends light close to the infrared spectrum into the muscle tissue. The reflection is then measured via 2 receivers. The amount of reflected light depends mainly on the light-absorbing molecules in the examined tissue. In the case of skeletal muscle, these are essentially the iron compounds of haemoglobin and myoglobin, which reflect more or less light depending on the connection with oxygen. Accordingly, NIRS can be used to measure the concentration and oxygen saturation of haemoglobin and myoglobin in the tissue under investigation.

What does NIRS measure?

  • Oxygen saturation (SmO2)
    Oxygen saturation represents the concentration of oxygenated haemoglobin in the tissue under examination. It thus represents the balance between oxygen supply and oxygen consumption of the skeletal muscle.
  • Total haemoglobin (tHb)
    Changes in total haemoglobin represent changes in capillary haematocrit and thus serve as an indicator of local blood flow (Barstow 2019). Thus, an increase in tHb represents increased blood flow and vice versa. A decrease in tHb can be triggered, for example, by a low cadence in combination with high torque and the resulting interruption of local blood flow.
  • Oxyhaemoglobin (O2Hb)
    Oxyhaemoglobin describes the oxygen-enriched haemoglobin and represents the local oxygen supply of the skeletal muscle. It is therefore composed of the current oxygen saturation and the change in total haemoglobin.
  • Deoxyhaemoglobin (HHb)
    Deoxyhaemoglobin is the haemoglobin that is not enriched with oxygen. It reflects the metabolic oxygen demand of the muscle (Wang et al. 2006).
Literature
Barstow, Thomas J. (2019): Understanding near infrared spectroscopy and its application to skeletal muscle research. In Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) 126 (5), pp. 1360-1376. DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00166.2018.

Bellotti, Cecilia; Calabria, Elisa; Capelli, Carlo; Pogliaghi, Silvia (2013): Determination of maximal lactate steady state in healthy adults: can NIRS help? In Medicine and science in sports and exercise 45 (6), pp. 1208-1216. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e3182828ab2.

Davis, Michelle L.; Barstow, Thomas J. (2013): Estimated contribution of hemoglobin and myoglobin to near infrared spectroscopy. In Respiratory physiology & neurobiology 186 (2), pp. 180-187.

Fontana, Federico Y.; Keir, Daniel A.; Bellotti, Cecilia; Roia, Gabriela F. de; Murias, Juan M.; Pogliaghi, Silvia (2015): Determination of respiratory point compensation in healthy adults: Can non-invasive near-infrared spectroscopy help? In Journal of science and medicine in sport 18 (5), pp. 590-595. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsams.2014.07.016.

Keir, Daniel A.; Fontana, Federico Y.; Robertson, Taylor C.; Murias, Juan M.; Paterson, Donald H.; Kowalchuk, John M.; Pogliaghi, Silvia (2015): Exercise Intensity Thresholds: Identifying the Boundaries of Sustainable Performance. In Medicine and science in sports and exercise 47 (9), pp. 1932-1940. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.00000000000613.

Mancini, D. (1997a): Application of near infrared spectroscopy to the evaluation of exercise performance and limitations in patients with heart failure. In Journal of biomedical optics 2 (1), pp. 22-30. DOI: 10.1117/12.263747.

Mancini, D. (1997b): Application of near infrared spectroscopy to the evaluation of exercise performance and limitations in patients with heart failure. In Journal of biomedical optics 2 (1), pp. 22-30. DOI: 10.1117/12.263747.

Marcinek, David J.; Amara, Catherine E.; Matz, Kimberly; Conley, Kevin E.; Schenkman, Kenneth A. (2007): Wavelength shift analysis: a simple method to determine the contribution of hemoglobin and myoglobin to in vivo optical spectra. In Applied spectroscopy 61 (6), pp. 665-669.

McCully, K. K.; Iotti, S.; Kendrick, K.; Wang, Z.; Posner, J. D.; Leigh, J.; Chance, B.. (1994): Simultaneous in vivo measurements of HbO2 saturation and PCr kinetics after exercise in normal humans. In Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) 77 (1), pp. 5-10. DOI: 10.1152/jappl.1994.77.1.5.

Nemeth, P. M.; Lowry, O. H. (1984): Myoglobin levels in individual human skeletal muscle fibers of different types. In The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society 32 (11), pp. 1211-1216. DOI: 10.1177/32.11.6491255.

Ryan, Terence E.; Southern, W. Michael; Reynolds, Mary Ann; McCully, Kevin K. (2013): A cross-validation of near-infrared spectroscopy measurements of skeletal muscle oxidative capacity with phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) 115 (12), pp. 1757-1766. DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00835.2013.

van Beek-Harmsen, Brechje J.; Bekedam, Martijn A.; Feenstra, H. Maria; Visser, Frans C.; van der Laarse, Willem J. (2004): Determination of myoglobin concentration and oxidative capacity in cryostat sections of human and rat skeletal muscle fibres and rat cardiomyocytes. In Histochemistry and cell biology 121 (4), pp. 335-342.

Wang, Lixin; Yoshikawa, Takahiro; Hara, Taketaka; Nakao, Hayato; Suzuki, Takashi; Fujimoto, Shigeo (2006): Which common NIRS variable reflects muscle estimated lactate threshold most closely? In Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabol ism 31 (5), pp. 612-620. DOI: 10.1139/h06-069.

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