DEVELOPING PERSPECTIVES

摘要

One of my ongoing activities is working with a DoD-funded research team that is developing an open source model of the human body. In a few years, a professor should be able to teach medical students how, for example, the lungs work without sacrificing an animal. The interesting point about this project - which involves computer scientists, engineers, physicians, and physiologists - is that the common language is simple discrete component electronics. For example, in developing a model of the lungs, we represent each lung with a diode, a few resistors, and a capacitor. That's it. Add AC or DC driving signals, and the current and voltage swings mimic the pressures and flows in the lungs.