MATHEMATICAL-MODELING OF HYDROGEN CLEARANCE BLOOD-FLOW MEASUREMENTS IN PERIPHERAL-NERVE

The hydrogen clearance technique of blood flow measurement often yield s biexponential washout curves. In peripheral nerve, arteriovenous shu nt vessels may clear hydrogen gas, causing the fast component of a bie xponential curve. We simulated the washout of hydrogen from nerve tiss ue in the vicinity of a large shunt vessel by modeling the diffusion o f hydrogen through tissue to the vessel and its removal by a network o f capillaries. We then determined the fast and slow clearance rates an d the relative weights or contributions of the fast and slow component s and found that they are affected by all of the model parameters.