Cardiovascular Physical Therapy Laboratory (LFCV)/Physical Exercise Research Center (NUPEF)

Lab coordinator: Aparecida Maria Catai, Ph.D.

The LFCV/NUPEF aims to investigate Cardiovascular Physical Therapy evaluation and intervention in healthy athletes and inpatients and outpatients with cardiovascular (CVD), respiratory, metabolic diseases, and with risk factors for CVD. The main research projects evaluate physiological adjustments and adaptations to different stressors (e.g., Valsalva maneuver, maneuver to accentuate respiratory sinus arrhythmia, passive and active postural maneuver, and different physical exercise and physical training protocols) and analyze biological signs (mainly cardiovascular, respiratory, autonomic, and metabolic variables) and functional performance.

Infrastructure: the lab has 75 m2, divided into two evaluation rooms, a data processing room, and a shared room for materials disinfection. The lab is equipped with three ergometers (two Corival-400 Cycle Ergometers and one Imbramed-Master ATL treadmill), two ergospirometers (one Ultima Medgraphics and one VMax Encore100), one plethysmography system (Finometer Pro), two signal acquisition systems, electrocardiograph (Powerlab 8/35, Bio Amp FE132 – AD Inst), manovacuometers, heart rate monitors, one near-infrared spectroscopy system (NIRS, Oxymon), one non-invasive intracranial pressure monitoring system (in collaboration with Brain4care), and 20 smart shirts (Hexoskin).

@lfcv.nupef