Gentle leg movement to check blood vessel health and guide rehabilitation
Official title: Passive leg movement: A tool to assess vascular health and guide rehabilitation
Funded at VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System · NIH-11329776 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses a gentle, technician‑moved leg movement with ultrasound to check blood vessel health in older adults and help guide rehabilitation.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Salt Lake City, United States) |
| Project start | October 1, 2020 |
| Project end | September 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 5I01RX003207-06 |
| Project ID | NIH-11329776 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are older adults—especially Veterans—with limited mobility or known cardiovascular disease who can attend VA clinic visits for ultrasound testing.
✕Less likely to help
People who are very young and healthy, those without vascular concerns, or those unable to travel to the testing site are unlikely to gain direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
You would have a technician gently move one leg while an ultrasound Doppler measures blood flow in a thigh artery during a single passive leg movement (sPLM). The team will use that blood flow response to estimate how well your blood vessels make nitric oxide, a key molecule for artery health. They will compare responses across different ages and levels of mobility and test how the measurement works in rehabilitation settings. The procedure is non‑invasive, requires no active exercise from you, and is done during clinic visits.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could provide a simple, non‑exercise way to gauge artery function and help tailor rehab plans to improve mobility and cardiovascular health.
How similar studies have gone: Earlier work has shown sPLM produces measurable blood flow responses and is a promising, novel method, but broader validation in older adults and rehab settings is still needed.
Where this research is happening
-
VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System
Salt Lake City, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Richardson, Russell S. — VA Salt Lake City Healthcare System
- Study coordinator: Richardson, Russell S.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.