Hemodynamic-based neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) sense hemoglobin concentration in cerebral tissue. The local concentration of hemoglobin, which is differentiated into oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin by NIRS, features spontaneous oscillations over time scales of 10-100 s in response to a number of local and systemic physiological processes. If one of such processes becomes the dominant source of cerebral hemodynamics, there is a high coherence between this process and the associated hemodynamics. In this work, we report a method to identify such conditions of coherent hemodynamics, which may be exploited to study and quantify microvasculature and microcirculation properties. We discuss how a critical value of significant coherence may depend on the specific data collection scheme (for example, the total acquisition time) and the nature of the hemodynamic data (in particular, oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentrations measured with NIRS show an intrinsic level of correlation that must be taken into account). A frequency-resolved study of coherent hemodynamics is the basis for the new technique of coherent hemodynamics spectroscopy (CHS), which aims to provide measures of cerebral blood flow and cerebral autoregulation. While these concepts apply in principle to both fMRI and NIRS data, in this article we focus on NIRS data.
We used coherent hemodynamics spectroscopy (CHS) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure the absolute cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral autoregulation efficiency of a patient with intraventricular hemorrhage in the neurocritical care unit. Mean arterial pressure oscillations were induced with cyclic thigh cuff inflations at a super-systolic pressure. The oscillations in oxyhemoglobin ([HbO2]) and deoxyhemoglobin ([Hb]) cerebral concentrations were used to compute CHS amplitude and phase spectra that were fit with the frequency-domain equations of our hemodynamic model. From the fitted parameters, we obtained measures of local autoregulation efficiency (cutoff frequency: 0.07 ± 0.02 Hz) and absolute regional CBF (33 ± 9 ml/100g/min). We introduce a new approach for computing CHS spectra using coherence criteria and time-varying transfer function analysis. We show that with this approach we can maximize the number of frequency points in the CHS spectra for more effective fitting with our hemodynamic model. Finally, we show how absolute measurements of the cerebral concentrations of [HbO2] and [Hb] at baseline can be used to further enhance the fitting procedure.
We report preliminary results of a study for investigating the spatial homogeneity of induced and spontaneous oscillations in the concentration of oxyhemoglobin on the scalp/skull layer of two human subjects. Hemodynamic oscillations were induced by modulation of arterial blood pressure, which triggers the cerebral autoregulation mechanism. Induced hemodynamic oscillations are used in coherent hemodynamics spectroscopy to derive physiological parameters of interest for medical diagnostics. For example, our dedicated mathematical model translates typical near-infrared spectroscopy observables, like the amplitude and phase relationship of the oscillations of oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin concentrations into capillary and venous blood transit times, cutoff frequency of the autoregulation process, and other parameters related to microvascular blood volume. In this study, we focused on the phase relationship between the oscillations of oxyhemoglobin concentrations in three optical channels, two of which feature a short (5 mm) source-detector separation (sampling the scalp/skull only) and the third one features a long (30 mm) source-detector separation (sampling both extracerebral and cerebral tissues). The two main goals of the study were: a) to compare the coherence of induced and spontaneous oscillations; b) to assess if induced and spontaneous oscillations may be assumed to be uniform in the extracerebral layer. This was assessed by studying the phase relationship of oscillations in oxyhemoglobin concentration at the two short source-detector separations. About point a) we verified that induced oscillations have a higher incidence of coherence than spontaneous oscillations: 74% for induced oscillations, and 30% for spontaneous oscillations. About point b) the results show an overall trend for both spontaneous and induced oscillations to be homogeneous or “quasi-homogeneous” in the extracerebral tissue; however, we observed cases where a significant non-zero phase difference was measured, indicating spatial heterogeneity. We propose a method for taking into account the possible inhomogeneous behavior of the oscillations in the scalp/skull in order to increase the accuracy of measurements of cerebral hemodynamic oscillations.
Cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral autoregulation (CA) are critically important to maintain proper brain perfusion and supply the brain with the necessary oxygen and energy substrates. Adequate brain perfusion is required to support normal brain function, to achieve successful aging, and to navigate acute and chronic medical conditions. We review the general principles of CBF measurements and the current techniques to measure CBF based on direct intravascular measurements, nuclear medicine, X-ray imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, ultrasound techniques, thermal diffusion, and optical methods. We also review techniques for arterial blood pressure measurements as well as theoretical and experimental methods for the assessment of CA, including recent approaches based on optical techniques. The assessment of cerebral perfusion in the clinical practice is also presented. The comprehensive description of principles, methods, and clinical requirements of CBF and CA measurements highlights the potentially important role that noninvasive optical methods can play in the assessment of neurovascular health. In fact, optical techniques have the ability to provide a noninvasive, quantitative, and continuous monitor of CBF and autoregulation.
We present a near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) study of local hemodynamics in the breast and the brain (prefrontal cortex) of healthy volunteers in a protocol involving periodic perturbations to the systemic arterial blood pressure. These periodic perturbations were achieved by cyclic inflation (to a pressure of 200 mmHg) and deflation (at frequencies of 0.046, 0.056, 0.063, 0.071, and 0.083 Hz) of two pneumatic cuffs wrapped around the subject’s thighs. As a result of these systemic perturbations, the concentrations of deoxy- and oxyhemoglobin in tissue (D and O, respectively) oscillate at the set frequency. We found that the oscillations of D and O in breast tissue are in-phase at all frequencies considered, a result that we attribute to dominant contributions from blood volume oscillations. In contrast, D and O oscillations in brain tissue feature a frequency-dependent phase difference, which we attribute to significant contributions from cerebral blood flow oscillations. Frequency-resolved measurements of D and O oscillations are exploited by the technique of coherent hemodynamics spectroscopy for the assessment of cerebrovascular parameters and cerebral autoregulation. We show the relevant physiological information content of NIRS measurements of oscillatory hemodynamics, which have qualitatively distinct features in the healthy breast and healthy brain.
We describe the general principles and initial results of coherent hemodynamics spectroscopy (CHS), which is a new
technique for the quantitative assessment of cerebral hemodynamics on the basis of dynamic near-infrared spectroscopy
(NIRS) measurements. The two components of CHS are (1) dynamic measurements of coherent cerebral hemodynamics
in the form of oscillations at multiple frequencies (frequency domain) or temporal transients (time domain), and (2) their
quantitative analysis with a dynamic mathematical model that relates the concentration and oxygen saturation of
hemoglobin in tissue to cerebral blood volume (CBV), cerebral blood flow (CBF), and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen
(CMRO2). In particular, CHS can provide absolute measurements and dynamic monitoring of CBF, and quantitative
measures of cerebral autoregulation. We report initial results of CBF measurements in hemodialysis patients, where we
found a lower CBF (54 ± 16 ml/(100 g-min)) compared to a group of healthy controls (95 ± 11 ml/(100 g-min)). We also
report CHS measurements of cerebral autoregulation, where a quantitative index of autoregulation (its cutoff frequency)
was found to be significantly greater in healthy subjects during hyperventilation (0.034 ± 0.005 Hz) than during normal
breathing (0.017 ± 0.002 Hz). We also present our approach to depth resolved CHS, based on multi-distance, frequency-domain
NIRS data and a two-layer diffusion model, to enhance sensitivity to cerebral tissue. CHS offers a potentially
powerful approach to the quantitative assessment and continuous monitoring of local brain perfusion at the
microcirculation level, with prospective brain mapping capabilities of research and clinical significance.
We present a brain-computer interface (BCI) that detects, analyzes and responds to user cognitive state in real-time using machine learning classifications of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data. Our work is aimed at increasing the narrow communication bandwidth between the human and computer by implicitly measuring users' cognitive state without any additional effort on the part of the user. Traditionally, BCIs have been designed to explicitly send signals as the primary input. However, such systems are usually designed for people with severe motor disabilities and are too slow and inaccurate for the general population. In this paper, we demonstrate with previous work1 that a BCI that implicitly measures cognitive workload can improve user performance and awareness compared to a control condition by adapting to user cognitive state in real-time. We also discuss some of the other applications we have used in this field to measure and respond to cognitive states such as cognitive workload, multitasking, and user preference.
KEYWORDS: Capillaries, Hemodynamics, Blood, Near infrared spectroscopy, Spectroscopy, Linear filtering, Autoregressive models, Time metrology, Data modeling, Cerebral blood flow
Coherent Hemodynamics Spectroscopy (CHS) is a novel technique for non-invasive measurements of local microcirculation quantities such as the capillary blood transit times and dynamic autoregulation. The basis of CHS is to measure, for instance with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), peripheral coherent hemodynamic changes that are induced by controlled perturbations in the systemic mean arterial pressure (MAP). In this study, the MAP perturbation was induced by the fast release of two pneumatic cuffs placed around the subject’s thighs after they were kept inflated (at 200 mmHg) for two minutes. The resulting transient changes in cerebral oxy- (O) and deoxy- (D) hemoglobin concentrations measured with NIRS on the prefrontal cortex are then described by a novel hemodynamic model, from which quantifiable parameters such as the capillary blood transit time and a cutoff frequency for cerebral autoregulation are obtained. We present results on eleven healthy volunteers in a protocol involving measurements during normal breathing and during hyperventilation, which is known to cause a hypocapnia-induced increase in cerebral autoregulation. The measured capillary transit time was unaffected by hyperventilation (normal breathing: 1.1±0.1 s; hyperventilation: 1.1±0.1 s), whereas the cutoff frequency of autoregulation, which increases for higher autoregulation efficiency, was indeed found to be significantly greater during hyperventilation (normal breathing: 0.017±0.002 Hz; hyperventilation: 0.034±0.005 Hz). These results provide a validation of local cerebral autoregulation measurements with the new technique of CHS.
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