Dynamic Estimation of Cerebral Blood Flow Using Blood Pressure Signal in sleep Apnea Patients

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Apnea-induced blood pressure oscillations can affect cerebral blood flow (CBF).
• Monitoring CBF oscillations is vital for assessing brain health in apnea patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the accuracy of an Auto Regressive Moving Average (ARMA) model in estimating nocturnal cerebral blood flow (CBF) oscillations from blood pressure (BP) variations.
• To assess the feasibility of using BP to predict CBF changes during obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Main Methods:

• An ARMA model was developed and tested.
• The model related nocturnal CBF oscillations to nocturnal BP variations.
• Data was collected from 8 obstructive sleep apnea subjects.

Main Results:

• The largest mean and standard deviation of CBF estimation errors were 4.49±7.57 cm/s.
• The maximum root mean squared error was 8.80 cm/s.
• These results indicate reasonable accuracy in CBF estimation.

Conclusions:

• The ARMA model demonstrates reasonable accuracy in estimating CBF from BP during sleep apnea.
• This approach shows potential for non-invasive monitoring of brain health in apnea patients.