Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 9
Advanced Topics and Future Trends
9.1
Introduction
Over the last three decades there has been considerable progress in computational
modelling. However many issues still need to be resolved. Advances in computational
resources and techniques will enable significant progress to be made in modelling
realistic physiological scenarios of the respiratory system. The materials presented
in this topic thus far serve as an introduction to some of the current trends and
modeling achievements, and in this chapter we present the latest developments and
address some of the important issues and challenges that are currently faced by many
researchers.
9.2
Advanced Modelling
9.2.1
Moving/Deforming mesh
Moving meshes can provide dynamic modelling of physiological functions that are
transient in nature. Take for example the changes in lung shape and volume that
occur during inhalation and exhalation. When the muscles of the diaphragm move
downwards during inhalation, the ribcage expands creating more room for the lungs
to expand. The volume of the lung increases which decreases the pressure relative
to the outside air. This pressure difference drives the movement of air for inhalation.
We can model this physiological function by attaching a hollow space that depicts
the lung volume to the primary bronchus (first generation) of the tracheobronchial
airway tree. The lung mesh is allowed to move freely with time while the trachea
and bronchi are fixed and not moving. The moving grid can be allowed to slide along
the interface without deformation between the part of the grid that is attached to
the static bronchi and the other parts of the lung that are changing in size. Other
techniques include dynamic layering where automatic layers of cells may be added
or removed as the mesh moves. Local refinements of the mesh can also be applied
to regions where the cell size and quality degrade due to the boundary motion. The
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