Nonlinear SPICE models for physiologic systems

Most biological systems are nonlinear but investigators interested in modeling them often make linear approximations to avoid performing tedious manual calculations. SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis, developed at the University of California, Berkeley, CA), an electrical circuit simulation program, is frequently used for creating and analyzing linear network models of physiologic and pathophysiologic processes. However, few investigators use the full capabilities of the program by modeling nonlinear elements. We developed six nonlinear SPICE elements, allowing simplified modeling of most commonly encountered physiologic processes. These are provided as subcircuits that can be easily incorporated into existing SPICE models. Included are voltage and current controlled nonlinear resistors, capacitors and inductors. In addition, we describe adders, multipliers, powers, inverse, and derivative functions.