A Mathematical Model of the Human External Respiratory System.

摘要

The study examines the thesis that a part of the human physiological system can be simulated by a suitably constructed mathematical model. This paper presents the results of a simulation of the external respiratory function. Respiration, and the consequent gas exchanges at the lung surfaces, involves many chemical reactions and a transformation of venous blood into arterial blood. This activity was chosen as a test case to explore the feasibility of constructing a mathematical model of a human subsystem. Basing their work on the known physiological and chemical aspects of this subsystem, the authors have constructed a mathematical model that, when solved, yields values describing the major phenomena of the subsystem. The values of some thirty different molecular species as determined by the model are in excellent agreement with observed values. In the present form of the model, emphasis was placed on the chemistry and thermodynamics of the subsystem rather than on the physical dynamics, such as flow and mixing. These time-phased phenomena are expressed only implicitly at this stage. In spite of these and other approximations, this exercise appears to demonstrate that the mathematical art is now capable of representing such systems having large and complex sets of functionally interrelated variables, and that there is reason to be optimistic about the possibilities of representing other more complicated human subsystems and interconnecting them. (Author)