Translational Research: Multi-Scale Models of the Pulmonary Circulation in Health and Disease - Multiscale Computer Modeling in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering - page 255

Translational Research: Multi-Scale
Models of the Pulmonary Circulation
in Health and Disease
Alys R. Clark, Kelly S. Burrowes and Merryn H. Tawhai
Abstract The pulmonary circulation is a unique low resistance system that carries
almost the entire cardiac output, and is responsible for the essential role of pro-
viding oxygenated blood to the body. As the pulmonary circulation differs from
the systemic circulation in its development, structure, and function, it is often most
appropriate to study the mechanisms that contribute toward pulmonary vascular
disease separately from those of systemic vascular disease at the genetic, cellular,
tissue and organ level. Here we review the development of multi-scale, anatom-
ically based models of the pulmonary circulation. These models aim to describe
the interaction of structural and functional aspects of the pulmonary circulation
that are the most important in determining the effective uptake of oxygen to the
blood. We describe how these models have been used to understand normal lung
physiology and to explain outcomes in pulmonary disease. Finally, we consider the
future of multi-scale modeling in the pulmonary circulation and discuss what can
be learned from well-developed multi-scale models of the pulmonary airspaces
that interact closely with the lung's circulatory system.
1 Introduction
Experimental or imaging studies of the pulmonary system are fraught with diffi-
culties due to the nature of the lung's structure and function. The lung comprises
trees of airways and blood vessels that are 'suspended' within an extremely
A. R. Clark ( & ) M. H. Tawhai
Auckland Bioengineering Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
e-mail: [e-mail]
K. S. Burrowes
Department of Computer Science, The University of Oxford, Oxford, UK