Department of Clinical Sciences and Bioimaging, "G. d'Annunzio" University, Chieti, Italy.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2009 Dec;37(12):2631-9. doi: 10.1007/s10439-009-9788-9. Epub 2009 Sep 4.
Raynaud's Phenomenon (RP) is a paroxysmal vasospastic disorder of small arteries, pre-capillary arteries, and cutaneous arteriovenous shunts of the extremities, typically induced by cold exposure and emotional stress. RP is either primary (PRP) or secondary to systemic sclerosis. In this study we use Control System Theory to model finger thermoregulatory processes in response to a standardized cold challenge (a diagnostic test routinely performed for differential diagnosis of RP). The proposed model is based on a homeostatic negative feedback loop, characterized by five distinct parameters which describe how the control mechanisms are activated and maintained. Thermal infrared imaging data from 14 systemic sclerosis subjects (SSc), 14 PRP, and 16 healthy control subjects (HCS) were processed. HCS presented the fastest active recovery, with the highest gain. PRP presented the slowest and weakest recovery, mostly due to passive heat exchange with the environment. SSc presented an intermediate behavior, with the longest delay of response onset. The estimated model parameters elucidated the level of functional impairment expressed in the various forms of this disease.
雷诺现象（RP）是一种肢端小动脉、前毛细血管动脉和皮肤动静脉分流的阵发性血管痉挛障碍，通常由寒冷暴露和情绪压力引起。RP 分为原发性（PRP）或继发于系统性硬化症。在这项研究中，我们使用控制系统理论来模拟手指对标准化冷刺激的温度调节过程（这是用于 RP 鉴别诊断的常规诊断测试）。所提出的模型基于一个动态平衡的负反馈回路，其特征是五个不同的参数，这些参数描述了控制机制是如何被激活和维持的。从 14 名系统性硬化症患者（SSc）、14 名原发性 RP 患者和 16 名健康对照组（HCS）中处理了热红外成像数据。HCS 呈现出最快的主动恢复，具有最高的增益。PRP 呈现出最慢和最弱的恢复，这主要是由于与环境的被动热交换。SSc 表现出中间行为，反应起始的延迟最长。所估计的模型参数阐明了这种疾病各种形式所表现出的功能障碍程度。
