Abstract #1648

Haemoglobin-Derived Curve Fitting to Post-Exercise Muscle BOLD Data

Andrew D. Davis¹, Michael D. Noseworthy²

¹Medical Physics and Applied Radiation Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; ²Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

BOLD imaging of skeletal muscle is difficult to interpret, since the signal depends on muscle perfusion, blood volume, and oxygen saturation. In this study, curves were fit to post-exercise BOLD data by making simple assumptions about [HHb] and [O2Hb] curve shapes and substituting values into published models. Generated curves agreed well with BOLD data, with some variability (0.831 < R-squared < 0.992). The poorer fit of soleus' fast changes compared to gastrocnemius was notable. This simple fit method generated parameters in agreement with prior literature, but further verification is needed to improve confidence before drawing absolute conclusions about physiological parameters.