03/04/2021 - Sara (ESR #8)
Blood pressure is a physiological parameter that can easily be measured and that correlates to one’s cardiovascular risk. Blood pressure is also a key factor to evaluate the cardiovascular safety of new drug candidates. Typically, blood pressure has a pulsatile pattern resulting in systolic (high) and diastolic (low) pressure values. An additional haemodynamic parameter includes pulse wave velocity (PWV), which is estimated based on pressure measurements at different locations in the body (e.g. arm versus foot). The PWV is a proxi of the stiffness (or reduced elasticity) of one’s larger arteries and is a good predictor of cardiovascular risk, independently of blood pressure. Further, using biophysics it is possible to derive from PWV the intrinsic arterial stiffness that may reflect pathological or drug-related changes of the vascular wall.
As part of my PhD, I will improve parameter estimation of biophysical quantities that cannot be measured directly in patients or lab animals. In fact, by combining pressure measurements and mathematical modelling as well as numerical simulation, we can estimate quantities like the Young modulus of the artery wall (or modulus of elasticity in tension). The Young modulus is a mechanical property that measures the tensile stiffness of a solid material and that will inform whether a disease (e.g. vascular calcification that occurs in dialysis patients) or a drug (cf. safety pharmacology) affects the biomechanical properties of our vascular system. Moreover, this detailed information is important to carefully assess and investigate the haemodynamic impact of changes in intrinsic stiffness.
References:
- Gerbeau, J., Lombardi, D., & Tixier, E. (2018). How to choose biomarkers in view of parameter estimation. Mathematical Biosciences, 303, 62-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mbs.2018.06.003