Estimation of Temperature Distribution in the Brain Using the Temperatures of Blood Inflow and Outflow for Brain Temperature Control

Brain cells can be damaged by higher temperature in the brain, and brain temperature distribution monitoring system is required from the perspective of brain preservation. Brain tissue can be further damaged by direct measurement of temperature using some sensors. Therefore, indirect methods of measuring temperature are required. In this study, we propose a method for estimating the average metabolic rate of the entire brain based on the difference between the observed and estimated blood flow temperatures that can be measured during selective brain hypothermia. Our mathematical simulator can calculate the brain temperature distribution based on the estimated average metabolic rate, taking into account other parameters like heat transfer, metabolic heat of individual tissues, heat-washout by blood flow, and environmental temperature. The algorithm for estimating the metabolic rate of mathematical master model substituted as a human head is confirmed using the mathematical slave model on the simulator. It is possible to present the temperature distribution by estimating metabolic heat production in the brain, considering the equilibrium between heat wash-out by the blood flow and heat transfer. In addition, an appropriate initial value of brain temperature enables the accurate temperature management enough for clinical use even in the process of temperature estimation. The development of our proposed method will make it possible to construct a non-invasive monitoring system that presents the estimated temperature distribution in the brain instead of the conventional invasive method. The new system is expected to be utilized in a various treatments related to some brain disorders. © 2024 Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan and Wiley Periodicals LLC.