Intermittent Sequential Pneumatic Compression Improves Coupling between Cerebral Oxyhaemoglobin and Arterial Blood Pressure in Patients with Cerebral Infarction.

This study aims to explore the effect of intermittent sequential pneumatic compression (ISPC) intervention on the coupling relationship between arterial blood pressure (ABP) and changes in oxyhaemoglobin (Δ [O2Hb]). The coupling strength between the two physiological systems was estimated using a coupling function based on dynamic Bayesian inference. The participants were 22 cerebral infarction patients and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Compared with resting state, the coupling strength from ABP to Δ [O2Hb] oscillations was significantly lower in the bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC), sensorimotor cortex (SMC), and temporal lobe cortex (TLC) during the ISPC intervention in cerebral infarction patients in interval II. Additionally, the coupling strength was significantly lower in the bilateral SMC in both groups in interval III. These findings indicate that ISPC intervention may facilitate cerebral circulation in the bilateral PFC, SMC, and TLC in cerebral infarction patients. ISPC may promote motor function recovery through its positive influences on motor-related networks. Furthermore, the coupling between Δ [O2Hb] and ABP allows non-invasive assessments of autoregulatory function to quantitatively assess the effect of rehabilitation tasks and to guide therapy in clinical situations.