Modeling blood flow & pressure in systemic circulation with cuff occlusion

Flow Mediated Dilation (FMD) is a non-invasive method to assess vascular health. In this method cuff occlusion is used to create reactive hyperemia and measure the following dilation of brachial artery. Although many researches have been conducted in this area, there still exist many debates about the method as the position of the cuff, duration of the occlusion and the involved physiological procedures. This study is trying to provide a platform by using a model to analyze these procedures. In this regard an electrical model for circulation is implemented consisting of 63 segments for large and 30 for peripheral arteries. The resulted pressure and flow signals are presented which are close to what is expected according to the literature. Cuff occlusion is also added to this model as a variable resistor and the results are depicted and compared with real measurements. The provided platform will further be used to add the model of involved physiological mechanisms and regulations.