Method for Quantitative Diagnosis of Cerebrovascular, Neurovascular and Neurodegenerative Diseases via Computation of a CO2 Vasomotor Reactivity Index based on a Nonlinear Predictive Model

A method for computing a subject-specific index of CO2 vasomotor reactivity of cerebral hemodynamics comprising the steps of:

• estimation of a subject-specific data-based dynamic nonlinear model of cerebral hemodynamics with two inputs (arterial blood pressure and end-tidal CO2) and one output (cerebral flow velocity);
• estimation of a subject-specific data-based dynamic nonlinear model of cerebral hemodynamics with two inputs (cerebral flow velocity and end-tidal CO2) and one output (arterial blood pressure);
• computation of a model-based vasomotor reactivity index (VMRI) that quantifies the CO2 vasomotor reactivity of a subject on the basis of the model-predicted cerebral flow velocity response to a positive and negative pulse change of the CO2 in a closed-loop pressure-flow configuration that accounts for the mutual interdependence of blood pressure and cerebral flow.

A method for computing a subject-specific index of CO2 vasomotor reactivity of cerebral hemodynamics comprising the steps of:

• estimation of subject-specific data-based dynamic nonlinear models of cerebral hemodynamics with a plurality of inputs and outputs, which are measured physiological variables that affect cerebral hemodynamics;
• computation of a model-based vasomotor reactivity index (VMRI) that quantifies the CO2 vasomotor reactivity of a subject on the basis of the model-predicted cerebral flow velocity response to a positive and negative pulse change of the CO2 in a nested-loop configuration that accounts for the mutual interdependences of all these variables.