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DTSTART:20240503T080000Z
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LOCATION:Elements Room and Online (Teams)
SUMMARY:ICFO | STYLIANI AVTZI
CLASS:PUBLIC
DESCRIPTION:Hybrid diffuse optical devices offer a non-invasive and continu
 ous and cost-effective method for monitoring cerebral blood flow and metab
 olism on the bedside use and realistic simulation applications. The incorp
 oration of diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) and near-infrared spectr
 oscopy (NIRS) in these devices extends their versatility. This PhD project
  focused on utilizing diffuse optics to assess brain activity during funct
 ional and stress tests in older populations.\nAgeing is the primary risk f
 actor for various brain conditions such as stroke\, cognitive disorders\, 
 and mobility issues. As the population becomes increasingly older\, these 
 age-related pathologies are becoming a significant social and economic bur
 den. The underlying assumption is that microvascular damage and changes in
  brain blood flow regulation contribute significantly to an increased risk
  of cerebrovascular diseases\, cognitive and mobility disorders. This unde
 rscores the importance of creating a widely accessible monitoring system a
 nd associated protocols able to detect these changes early on\, ultimately
  leading to personalised interventions. Two multi-disciplinary studies wer
 e performed during my doctorate studies to identify alterations in the hae
 modynamic parameters of older adults in response to existing pathologies.\
 nMicrovascular cerebral blood flow (CBF) in a cohort of younger and older 
 adults (&gt\;65 y.o.) with and without mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in 
 overall good health was monitored during functional and stress tests. It w
 as observed that CBF of older adults with MCI could not recover to baselin
 e conditions compared to younger participants indicating possible autoregu
 lation and vasoreactivity problems similar to those previously observed in
  chronic sleep apnea and chronic carotid stenosis patients. CBF measuremen
 ts during functional cognitive tasks revealed gender differences. For a gi
 ven test MCI participants presented a statistically higher response than n
 ormocognitive (NC) subjects. The combination of these results favour the \
 "inefficiency hypothesis\" that suggests that older adults activate the br
 ain networks as NC individuals to cope with behavioural demands but with i
 ncreased activity.&nbsp\;&nbsp\;\nA new hybrid diffuse optics device was d
 eveloped combining a custom-made fast-DCS with a commercial NIRS device al
 ong with external devices for physiological signal recordings in the secon
 d study. The project aimed to measure changes in cerebral haemodynamics in
  older adults with Motoric Risk Syndrome (MCR) during functional cognitive
  and motor tasks protocols to evaluate the pre-post impact at 3 and 6 mont
 hs of physical exercise alone or combined with transcranial direct current
  stimulation (tDC). Results revealed higher CBF but not oxy-haemoglobin (H
 bO2) responses in dual tasks (DT) compared to single (ST). There were no d
 ifferences between groups at baseline and 3 months but statistically diffe
 rent responses in CBF were observed at 6 months for both intervention grou
 ps compared to the control group but not in HbO2 response\, indicating tha
 t intervention affects CBF response possibly due to improvements of vascul
 ar health\, highlighting the importance of physical activity and transcran
 ial stimulation on the maintenance of vascular health.\nA big part of my r
 esearch focused on the development of new algorithms for de-contaminating 
 the measured data from extracerebral signal to develop an optimal model to
  minimise the effect for both studies.\nIn summary this study proves the c
 apability of hybrid optics to capture the evoked haemodynamic responses in
  the pre-frontal cortex and offers insights into the use of techniques to 
 assess cognitive function in older adults\, specifically those with MCI an
 d MCR. The findings highlight the complex relationship between blood flow 
 responses and cognitive activities suggesting that compensatory mechanisms
  may play a role in individuals facing cognitive challenges. Future resear
 ch in these areas holds promise\, for enhancing our understanding of decli
 ne and developing interventions to mitigate its impact.\n&nbsp\;\nFriday M
 ay 03\, 10:00 h. ICFO Elements Room and online via Teams\nThesis Director:
  Prof Dr. Turgut Durduran 
DTSTAMP:20260407T084953Z
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