Cerebral Blood Flow: Mathematical Models, Instrumentation, and Imaging Techniques

The NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Cerebral Blood Flow: Mathematical Models, Instrumentation, and Imaging Techniques" was held in L'Aquila, Italy, June 2-13, 1986. Contributions to this program were received from the University of L'Aquila, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Siemens Elettra S.p.A., and Bracco S.p.A. Recent studies of the cerebral blood circulation have lagged behind analysis of other parameters such as glucose utilization, transmitter distribution, and precursors. This Advanced Study Institute tried to fill this gap by analyzing in detail different physical techniques such as Autoradiography (including Double-Tracer Auto­ radiography and highly specific tracers as Iodoantipyrine, Micro­ spheres), Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. Each method was analyzed in regards to its precision, resolution, response time. A considerable part of this Institute was devoted to the mathematics of CBF measurement, in its two aspects, i.e. the modeling of the underlying kinetic system and the statistical analysis of the data. The modeling methods proposed included the development of a differential algebra whereby the differential and integral equations involved could be solved by simple algebraic methods, including graph­ theoretical ones; the statistical methods proposed included the illustration of different parametrizations of possible use in the interpretation of experimental results.