HemoPIC: A Physics-Informed Cerebral Hemodynamics Digital Twin for Brain Perfusion

Abstract

Perfusion imaging guides clinical evaluation of stroke and brain tumors by characterizing tissue-level hemodynamics. Routine quantification relies on manual arterial input function (AIF) selection followed by deconvolution, producing summary maps without an executable temporal model for simulation or mechanistic insight. Tracer-dynamics-based models infer transport or compartmental parameters from perfusion time series, but do not yield clinically actionable perfusion indices (e.g., CBF, CBV, MTT) that inform diagnosis and treatment decisions. In this work, we propose HemoPIC, a physics-informed cerebral hemodynamics digital twin that explains perfusion time series through tracer mass conservation and a lumped parameter hemodynamic model. Specifically, HemoPIC solves a constrained inverse problem that jointly estimates digital twin parameters and latent states from perfusion imaging, eliminating manual AIF selection and deconvolution from routine perfusion quantification while directly producing clinically actionable perfusion summary maps. Experiments demonstrate that HemoPIC reconstructs tracer dynamics, generates physiologically consistent perfusion maps with lesion hypoperfusion patterns, satisfies central volume consistency, and yields a mechanistic hemodynamic digital twin that enables forward simulation and counterfactual intervention analysis. Code is publicly available at https://github.com/jhuldr/HemoPIC.