Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
An Extended Computational Framework
to Study Arterial Vasomotion and Its
Links to Vascular Disease
Etienne Boileau, Dimitris Parthimos and Perumal Nithiarasu
Abstract
A mathematical model of vasomotion is presented in the context of an
extended computational framework, to bring new insights into the mechanisms
involved in the regulation of vascular tone and arterial function. The approach is
based on a number of previously published results, and provides a starting point to
a unified method to modelling the pathways to endothelial dysfunction. Results are
presented for different scenarios, involving a population of coupled smooth muscle
cells on an image-based computational domain.
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Keywords
Model of vasomotion
Smooth muscle cell (SMC)
Endothelium
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Calcium ion
Ca
2
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Nonlinear complex dynamical system
1 Introduction
Flow affects the blood vessel responses in many ways, through mechanotransduction
mechanisms, or by modifying the interactions between blood-borne agonists and
cell receptors, especially in the surface boundary layer. In addition to the effects
of hæmodynamics and transport, complex interactions exist between the arterial
wall components, which are involved in many aspects of vascular adaptation. A
better understanding of the principles governing blood-wall interactions and vascular
dynamics may prove useful in elucidating some of the mechanochemical aspects of
arterial disease. Mathematical description of the ion transport systems that participate
