Receding horizon controller for the baroreceptor loop in a model for the cardiovascular system

Area of Science:

• Physiology
• Control Systems Engineering
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• The human cardiovascular system (CVS) relies on the baroreceptor reflex for blood pressure regulation.
• Previous models utilized linear quadratic control (LQR) to stabilize the CVS under ergometric workload.
• Receding horizon control (RHC) presents a potential alternative for baroreflex control.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and implement RHC for the baroreceptor loop of a human CVS model.
• To evaluate RHC as an alternative to the established LQR strategy.
• To compare the performance of RHC against LQR using experimental data.

Main Methods:

• A receding horizon control (RHC) strategy was designed and implemented.
• The RHC was applied to a previously developed model of the human cardiovascular system (CVS).
• Control parameters for the RHC cost functional were estimated using existing experimental data.

Main Results:

• The RHC implementation was successfully designed and applied to the CVS model.
• Performance metrics of the RHC were compared directly against the LQR implementation.
• The study provides a comparative analysis of RHC versus LQR for baroreflex control.

Conclusions:

• Receding horizon control (RHC) is a viable alternative for modeling the baroreceptor loop in the human cardiovascular system (CVS).
• The RHC approach offers a different control strategy for stabilizing the CVS.
• Further research can explore RHC's efficacy in various physiological conditions.