Abstract. The cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) of middle cerebral artery (MCA) was detected during the fatigue driving using Transcranial Doppler. The CBFV was also analyzed after the fatigue driving by different means of relaxation to alleviate brain fatigue. The results show that the CBFV in MCA is reduced by driving fatigue

Hong Wang

Ningning Zhang

Xiaomei Chi

Yajing Yan

CiteSeerX

Blood Flow Velocity Changes in the Middle Cerebral Artery Induced by 
Driving Fatigue  
Hong Wang, Xiaomei Chi, Yajing Yan and Ningning Zhang  
Northeastern University, 110004 Shenyang, China 
hongwang@mail.neu.edu.cn  
Keywords: Driving fatigue, TCD, Cerebral blood flow velocity, Head massage 
Abstract. The cerebral blood flow velocity (CBFV) of middle cerebral artery (MCA) was detected 
during the fatigue driving using Transcranial Doppler. The CBFV was also analyzed after the fatigue 
driving by different means of relaxation to alleviate brain fatigue. The results show that the CBFV in 
MCA is reduced by driving fatigue.  
Introduction 
Transcranial Doppler (TCD) was first described by Aaslid et al. in 1982 [1]. Because of a high 
temporal resolution TCD has become a widely used method to determine cerebral blood flow velocity 
(CBFV) of the basal cerebral arteries during specific stimulation conditions [2-5]. Frauenfelder et al. 
found that specific CBFV patterns support the idea of different cognitive challenges for planning and 
control between easy and difficult conditions [6]. Schnittger et al. reported that the differential blood 
flow changes in the two middle cerebral arteries (MCA) as a function of attention to the visual 
stimulus [7].  
In USA there were 42,643 persons killed and 2,889,000 persons injured in traffic crashes in 2003 
[8]. One of the causes for motor vehicle crashes is the effect of fatigue driving [9-10]. But how is the 
CBFV during the driving fatigue? Could the CBFV be changed using the head massage after driving 
fatigue? In this paper blood flow velocity changes in MCA induced by driving fatigue were 
researched.  
Materials and methods 
Eighteen right-handed healthy volunteers (range 20-30 years) participated in the experiment. Tran 
cranial Doppler measurements were performed with a COMPANION III TCD instrument. The 
cerebral blood velocity was measured from the right MCA using TCD. A 2-MHz pulsed wave 
transducer was placed over the temporal window and fixed with a headband. Peak mean CBFV of 
MCA （Fig.1）that represents the mean CBFV of the envelope curve was assessed in all examined 
vessels. The head massages were performed with a massager (breo ®). The on-board measurements 
were conducted in the experimental car. 
Continuous variables are expressed as mean ± SD. We used the paired Student t-test to compare 
peak mean CBFV of MCAs between control group and the experiment group. All tests were 2-sided, 
and a value of p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. 
The subjects were divided into three groups (Fig.2), the control group, experimental group 1 
(15min head massage after driving) and experimental group 2 (15 min natural break after driving).  
The experiments are as follows. In the beginning of the experiment, the cerebral blood velocities were 
measured from the right MCA of all subjects. After that, the subjects in experimental group 1 and 2 
drove the experimental car for 1h. Then, the cerebral blood velocities were measured from the right 
MCA of all subjects. Subjects in experimental group 2 took 15min natural break after driving. 
Subjects in experimental group 1 were performed with the 15 min head massager. At 85 min after the 
beginning of the experiment, the cerebral blood velocities were measured from the right MCA of all 
subjects.  
 
Advanced Engineering Forum Online: 2011-12-22
ISSN: 2234-991X, Vols. 2-3, pp 219-222
doi:10.4028/www.scientific.net/AEF.2-3.219
© 2012 Trans Tech Publications Ltd, Switzerland
This is an open access article under the CC-BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
 
 
    Fig. 1. CBFV of MCA 
 
 
 
Fig. 2. Experimental program 
Results 
The results show that cerebral blood flow velocities (CBFVs) of the right MCA after 1h driving are 
less than the control group (Fig.3, P<0. 01), i.e. the blood flow velocities in MCA are reduced after 1h 
driving. It means that fatigue driving could bring about the decrease of the CBFV.  After 15min 
natural break, the CBFV began to recover (Fig.4). The recovering effect through 15min head massage 
is better than through 15min natural break (Fig.4). There is the significant different (p<0.05) between 
the CBFV changes induced by 15min head massage after the driving and just after the driving. 
220 Mechatronics and Information Technology
 
 
 
Fig. 3. Decrease of CBFV after 1h driving（** p<0.01） 
 
 
Fig. 4. CBFV changing (* p<0.05) 
Discussion 
In this paper, the effects of fatigue driving on cerebral blood flows have been showed. The cerebral 
blood flows of middle cerebral artery were detected during the fatigue driving by the Transcranial 
Doppler in real time, and compared to analyze the effects of fatigue driving on blood flows velocity. 
The cerebral blood flows were also detected after the fatigue driving by different means of relaxation 
to alleviate brain fatigue.  The results show that the CBFV in MCA is reduced by fatigue driving. 
After 15 min natural break after the driving the CBFV began to recover. The recovering effect by 
15min head massage after the driving is better than the effect after 15min natural break. There is the 
significant different (p<0.05) between the CBFV changes induced by 15min head massage after the 
driving and just after the driving. 
 
Advanced Engineering Forum Vols. 2-3 221
 
It has been reported that the oxygenation delivery of brain tissue is associated with the cerebral 
blood flow velocities [11-13]. The decrease of CBFV in MCA means that the oxygenation delivery of 
brain tissue could come down after 1h driving. If the oxygenation of brain tissue is insufficient, 
subjective activation could be reduced. It could easily lead to motor vehicle crashes. Through 15 min 
natural break after driving the CBFV could be gradually recovered with the recovering of the 
oxygenation delivery in brain tissue. The head massage is a method of brain rehabilitation [14].The 
head massage could speed up the rehabilitation of the oxygenation delivery in brain tissue. That 
means that CBFV could be faster recovered by the head massage after driving fatigue. The CBFV of 
MCA using TCD may be a physiological index for checking the level of the driving fatigue. 
Acknowledgment  
This work was supported by National Science Foundation of China (61071057), Fundamental 
Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (N100603003). 
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222 Mechatronics and Information Technology


Blood Flow Velocity Changes in the Middle Cerebral Artery Induced by Driving Fatigue

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Blood Flow Velocity Changes in the Middle Cerebral Artery Induced by Driving Fatigue

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