| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
|
|
|
|||||||
|
|||||||||
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139; and 2 Department of Environment Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts 02115
A computational model of the pulmonary microcirculation is developed and used to examine blood flow from arteriole to venule through a realistically complex alveolar capillary bed. Distributions of flow, hematocrit, and pressure are presented, showing the existence of preferential pathways through the system and of large segment-to-segment differences in all parameters, confirming and extending previous work. Red blood cell (RBC) and neutrophil transit are also analyzed, the latter drawing from previous studies of leukocyte aspiration into micropipettes. Transit time distributions are in good agreement with in vivo experiments, in particular showing that neutrophils are dramatically slowed relative to the flow of RBCs because of the need to contract and elongate to fit through narrower capillaries. Predicted neutrophil transit times depend on how the effective capillary diameter is defined. Transient blockage by a neutrophil can increase the local pressure drop across a segment by 100-300%, leading to temporal variations in flow and pressure as seen by videomicroscopy. All of these effects are modulated by changes in transpulmonary pressure and arteriolar pressure, although RBCs, neutrophils, and rigid microspheres all behave differently.
simulation; hemodynamics; pulmonary circulation; neutrophil margination; microcirculation
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  K.S Burrowes, A.J Swan, N.J Warren, and M.H Tawhai Towards a virtual lung: multi-scale, multi-physics modelling of the pulmonary system Phil Trans R Soc A, September 28, 2008; 366(1879): 3247 - 3263. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Zhao, L. G. Fernandez, A. Doctor, A. K. Sharma, A. Zarbock, C. G. Tribble, I. L. Kron, and V. E. Laubach Alveolar macrophage activation is a key initiation signal for acute lung ischemia-reperfusion injury Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, November 1, 2006; 291(5): L1018 - L1026. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. H. Tawhai, K. S. Burrowes, and E. A. Hoffman Computational models of structure-function relationships in the pulmonary circulation and their validation Exp Physiol, March 1, 2006; 91(2): 285 - 293. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. Yap and R. D. Kamm Cytoskeletal remodeling and cellular activation during deformation of neutrophils into narrow channels J Appl Physiol, December 1, 2005; 99(6): 2323 - 2330. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. Reutershan, A. Basit, E. V. Galkina, and K. Ley Sequential recruitment of neutrophils into lung and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in LPS-induced acute lung injury Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol, November 1, 2005; 289(5): L807 - L815. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. Yap and R. D. Kamm Mechanical deformation of neutrophils into narrow channels induces pseudopod projection and changes in biomechanical properties J Appl Physiol, May 1, 2005; 98(5): 1930 - 1939. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. J. Schwab, A. Salamand, Y. Merhi, A. Simard, and J. Dupuis Kinetic analysis of pulmonary neutrophil retention in vivo using the multiple-indicator-dilution technique J Appl Physiol, July 1, 2003; 95(1): 279 - 291. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. R. Burns, C. W. Smith, and D. C. Walker Unique Structural Features That Influence Neutrophil Emigration Into the Lung Physiol Rev, April 1, 2003; 83(2): 309 - 336. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Visit Other APS Journals Online |
