How to investigate oxygen supply, uptake, and utilization simultaneously by interleaved NMR imaging and spectroscopy of the skeletal muscle.

Human skeletal muscle perfusion, oxygenation, and high-energy phosphate distribution were measured simultaneously by interleaved (1)H and (31)P NMR spectroscopy and (1)H NMR imaging in vivo. From these parameters, arterial oxygen supply (DO(2)), muscle reoxygenation rate, mitochondrial ATP production, and O(2) consumption (VO(2)) were deduced at the recovery phase of a short ischemic exercise bout. In addition, by using a reformulation of the mass conservation law, muscle maximum O(2) extraction was calculated from these parameters.