Measurement of Blood Flow in the Femoral Artery in Man at Rest and during Exercise by Local Thermodilution

A new method is described for measuring blood flow in the femoral artery in man, based on local thermodilution. The method makes it possible to take 3 or 4 measurements per minute at rest and during muscular exercise of the investigated limb. The average blood flow in eight subjects at rest was 635.9±223.1 ml./min., or 6.0±2.3 ml./100 ml. limb volume/min.Changes during graded and increased work loads were also measured in 5-minute periods (150, 200, and 250 Kg./min.). The rate of flow rise was faster at the start of a given period than in the latter half of the same period. After the end of the work load, the rate of return of blood flow to the baseline fell off rapidly with time, but by 30 minutes later baseline values had still not been attained.