Metabolic imaging in exercise physiology

This minireview focuses on selected, noninvasive imaging techniques that have been used in the study of exercise physiology. These imaging modalities can be roughly divided into two categories: tracer based and nontracer based. Tracer-based methods use radiolabeled substrates whose location and quantity can subsequently be imaged once they are incorporated into metabolic processes. Nontracer-based imaging modalities rely on specific properties of substrates to identify metabolites and determine their concentrations. Identification and quantification of metabolites is usually based on magnetic properties or on differences in light absorption. In this review, we will highlight two tracer-based imaging modalities, positron emission tomography and single-photon-emission computed tomography, as well as two nontracer-based methods, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and near-infrared spectroscopy. Some of the recent findings that each technique has provided on cerebral and skeletal muscle metabolism during exercise, as well as the strengths and limitations of each technique, will be discussed.