An integrated physiology model to study regional lung damage effects and the physiologic response

Area of Science:

• Physiology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Mathematical Modeling

Background:

• Previously developed dynamic physiology model (DPM) expanded with an anatomic pulmonary system.
• Quantifies the impact of lung damage on oxygen transport and physical performance.
• Addresses limitations in predicting performance decrements due to thoracic injuries.

Purpose of the Study:

• To integrate an anatomic pulmonary model into an existing DPM.
• To quantify the effects of lung damage (edema) on oxygen transport and physical performance.
• To validate the augmented model using human exercise data and predict human response to injury.

Main Methods:

• Derived an anatomic pulmonary model based on morphometric measurements and experimental data on heterogeneous ventilation/perfusion.
• Incorporated the pulmonary model into the DPM and validated the combined system with human exercise data.
• Quantified pulmonary damage using lung fluid infiltration (edema) and calibrated parameters with animal studies, applying scaling laws for human prediction.

Main Results:

• The augmented DPM accurately predicted human responses to hypoxia, altitude, and exercise.
• Pulmonary damage parameters (shunt, diffusing capacity reduction) were fitted to animal data linking lung damage to lung weight change.
• The model successfully predicted reduced oxygen delivery and physical performance decrements under lung damage conditions.

Conclusions:

• Developed a physiologically-based mathematical model to predict performance decrement endpoints following thoracic damage.
• Simulations can estimate human performance and survival in extreme scenarios.
• Provides a tool for understanding and predicting the physiological consequences of lung injury.