Senile dementia is associated with pronounced alterations in cerebral circulation. A fundamental understanding of intracranial hemodynamics and wave dynamics is essential for assessing dementia risk. Recent findings suggest that higher carotid artery wave intensity (WI) can predict future cognitive impairments in the elderly. However, wave power (WP) is more advantageous for assessing the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia because of its conservative form, which allows quantification of detailed WP distribution among the entire cerebrovascular network. Unfortunately, intracranial hemodynamics and wave dynamics in elderly patients with dementia remain poorly understood due to ethical issues and technical challenges. In this paper, we proposed a novel and easily achievable personalized methodology for the 0D-1D model of cerebral circulation using widely available clinical data on transcranial Doppler ultrasonography velocity, cerebral artery anatomy from magnetic resonance imaging, and brachial artery pressure. Using the proposed model, we simulated the cerebral blood flows and compared the wave dynamics between a healthy elderly subject and one living with dementia. Moreover, we performed a variance-based global sensitivity analysis to quantify the model-predicted WI and WP sensitivity to the uncertainties of model inputs. This provided more precise information for model personalization and further insights into the wave dynamics of cerebral circulation. In conclusion, the proposed personalized model framework provides a practical approach for patient-specific modeling and WI/WP analysis of cerebral circulation through noninvasive clinical data. The wave dynamics features of higher WI and lower WP in cerebral arteries may be an invaluable biomarker for assessing dementia risk.
Keywords: 0D-1D cerebral circulation model; patient-specific hemodynamic modeling; senile dementia; wave intensity analysis; wave power analysis.
© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.