Speaker: Julia Arciero (Indiana University, Indianapolis)
Title: Modeling oxygen transport and flow regulation in the human retina
Abstract: Impairments in retinal blood flow and oxygenation have been shown to contribute to the progression of glaucoma. In this study, a theoretical model of the retina is used to predict retinal blood flow and oxyhemoglobin saturation at differing levels of capillary density and autoregulation capacity as intraluminal pressure, oxygen demand, or intraocular pressure are varied. The model includes a heterogeneous representation of retinal arterioles and a compartmental representation of capillaries and venules. A Green’s function method is used to model oxygen transport in the arterioles, and a Krogh cylinder model is used in the capillaries and venules. Model results predict that both increased intraocular pressure and impaired blood flow regulation can cause decreased tissue oxygenation. Under baseline conditions of a capillary density of 500 mm-2, an autoregulation plateau is predicted for incoming intraluminal pressures in the range of 32 - 40 mmHg. Decreasing capillary density or increasing intraocular pressure leads to a loss in the autoregulation plateau in that pressure range. If the patient has no ability to regulate flow, the autoregulation plateau disappears entirely. Ultimately, the model framework presented in this study will allow for future comparisons to sectorial-specific clinical data to help assess the potential role of impaired blood flow regulation in ocular disease.
Speaker Bio: Julia Arciero is a Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Indiana University Indianapolis. She received her Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from the University of Arizona. She completed a postdoc at the University of Pittsburgh and began her faculty position at IUPUI in 2011. Dr. Arciero's research involves the development and analysis of ordinary and partial differential equation models of blood flow regulation and the immune response with applications to glaucoma, peripheral arterial disease, stroke, transplant rejection, and sepsis.