Optoacoustics Monitoring of the Hypoxic Human Brain: A Monte Carlo Numerical Modeling Study

The ability to autonomously monitor the cognitive and physical aptitude of free-living warfighters under extreme pathophysiologic stress, i.e. altitude induced hypoxic hypoxia, is critical to maximizing safety and warfighter performance. It is hypothesized that altitude-induced mental and physical deficits are preceded by altered delivery of oxygen to the brain, and that these events may be objectively predicted pre-symptomatically bymonitoring warfighter-specific rates of change in physiologic parameters derived from light interacting with hemoglobin, specifically, optoacoustic effect. Although optoacoustic imaging (OAI) has evolved over a number of years and OAI is prevalent in rodent models, we recognize the need to scope an equivalent capability in humans in an accelerated timeframe. We propose the development of analytical and numeric models of OAI focused on physiologic monitoring.