  Recent studies have demonstrated the advantages of fractional-order calculus
tools for probing the viscoelastic properties of collagenous tissue,
characterizing the arterial blood flow and red cell membrane mechanics, and
modeling the aortic valve cusp. In this article, we present a novel
lumped-parameter equivalent circuit models of the apparent arterial compliance
using a fractional-order capacitor (FOC). FOC, which generalizes capacitors and
resistors, displays a fractional-order behavior that can capture both elastic
and viscous properties through a power-law formulation. The proposed framework
describes the dynamic relationship between the blood pressure input and blood
volume, using linear fractional-order differential equations. The results show
that the proposed models present reasonable fit performance with in-silico data
of more than 4,000 subjects. Additionally, strong correlations have been
identified between the fractional-order parameter estimates and the central
hemodynamic determinants as well as pulse wave velocity indexes. Therefore,
fractional-order based paradigm of arterial compliance shows prominent
potential as an alternative tool in the analysis of arterial stiffness.
