Estimation of cerebral blood flow from thermal measurement.

A thermal method has been developed to quantify continuous perfusion changes with self-calibration. A dynamic, one-dimensional bio-heat transfer model of the thermal probe and tissue describes the system response to either continuous or transient heating. A nonlinear least-squares fit of the model to experimental data yields estimates of the baseline perfusion and other model parameters. With a partial analytical solution of the model, the optimal estimation procedure is two orders of magnitude more efficient than with a total numerical solution of the model system. Experimental data is used to estimate the operating relations between perfusion and the temperature measurement. A new procedure has also been presented to obtain the dynamic response of the system for continuous measurement of perfusion.