Parameter estimation for cardiovascular flow modeling of fetal circulation

The present paper represents a first methodological work for the construction of a robust and accurate algorithm for the solution of an inverse problem given by the identification of the parameters of a lumped mathematical model of fetal circulation introduced by G. Pennati et al. (1997). The underlying estimation techniques here applied are two global search meth- ods, respectively a Parameter Space Investigation (PSI) and the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF), with a refinement performed with a local search method, i.e. Levenberg- Marquardt method (LM). The results here presented show the soundness of our methodology and opens the possibility to apply these techniques for the parameter identification of waveforms obtained from Doppler clinical measurements in the next future. Our final goal is to build a non-invasive simulation tool for the description of the circulation of fetuses in the context of a patient-specific model in order to help clinicians in early diagnosis of pathologies like cardiac distress or growth retardation.