Physiological Systems Modeling

Abstract

This article discusses modeling as a device that you might use in research, education, or the practice of medicine or engineering. The purpose of the article is to allow you to explore, examine, and perhaps even use models, just as you would a device. Physiological models are almost unique among equipment, because a major use is education. Through physiological models, one can learn about physiology, pharmacology, scientific concepts, and clinical situations. The main way to use a model is through simulation or a simulator. We distinguish between simulation and simulators, the former being much more common. We usually give enough detail about a model so that the reader can decide whether to make the effort to locate the reference(s), author(s), and/or a simulator. The article is divided by systems. Each section describes some characteristics and peculiarities of the system, followed by a description of the models available, highlighting some of the ones that can be easily and inexpensively used. We concentrate on the central nervous, cardiovascular and thermal regulatory systems, mainly in the area of classical, or macro, physiology. The body and its systems depend on control systems, and these are emphasized, including the fascinating phenomenon of autoregulation, which has its own section. Autoregulation can be astoundingly simple or amazingly complex, but never completely independent of other regulatory systems. The past, present, and future of physiological systems modeling are also explore. The future is particularly exciting. The physiome project is to physiology what the genome project has been to genetics.