Moseley proposed that the static stretching was used with the mus

Moseley proposed that the static stretching was used with the muscle in a relaxed position, and the flexibility assessment was made by measuring the distance from the starting position to the end of the movement, or stretch [7]. The indirect measurement consists of clinical examination of joint ranges, but this is subject to a number of systematic and random errors. Some factors must be taken into account when establishing muscle flexibility by the methods mentioned above, such as joint structure, ligaments, tendons, muscles, skin tissue, fat (or adipose) tissue, which may influence an individual’s range of motion about a joint [8].Little attention has been paid to the assessment of muscle flexibility from the microcirculatory aspect point of view, while vascular impairment is widely acknowledged as an important factor in acute and chronic muscle lesions.

Recently, Otsuki investigated the changes in muscle blood perfusion and tissue oxygenation determined by non-invasive near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) signals between subjects with different flexibility [9]. He concluded that the muscle blood flow and muscle oxygenation in ballet-trained subjects were less interfered with by passive muscle stretching than in untrained subjects. Another relative research also suggested that the vascular stability was essential for tissue health, while an instable microcirculatory supplement might further impair blood-tissue oxygen exchange and therefore caused the consequent impairment of tissue function [10].

In the studies of muscle physiology on office workers with low level, repetitive and static computer tasks by using Laser-Doppler Flowmetry (LDF), researchers found a significant association between the chronic musculoskeletal pain and trapezius vasodilatation [11�C13]. This vasodilative characteristic was shown to be more sensitive than the muscle activity from the records by electromyography. Unfortunately, the tissue perfusion signals were determined by the single-fiber LDF technique with optic-fiber probe inserted invasively into the upper trapezius in these investigations, Dacomitinib which therefore made it not practical for use in clinical applications.Recently, a high power LDF with wide separation probe was developed to explore its potential for the assessment of deeper tissues in humans for non-invasive application [14].

Since the microvascular perfusion function may be associated with muscle flexibility, the aim of this study is to develop convenient indices for the assessment of muscle flexibility by analyzing the characteristics of blood perfusion determined by non-invasive LDF technique during different muscle stretching and relaxed states. After the signal processing with the modified beat-to-beat algorithm [15,16], the flexibility indices can be defined in participants with different flexibility levels of calf muscle.2.?Materials and Methods2.1.

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