Multiscale modeling of respiration

IEEE Eng Med Biol Mag. 2009 May-Jun;28(3):34-40. doi: 10.1109/MEMB.2009.932491.

Abstract

In human studies investigating factors that control cellular respiration in working skeletal muscle, pulmonary VO2 dynamics (VO2p) measured at the mouth by indirect calorimetry is typically used to represent muscle O2 consumption (UO2m). Furthermore, measurement of muscle oxygenation using near-infrared spectroscopy has provided information on the dynamic balance between oxygen delivery and oxygen consumption at the microvascular level. To relate these measurements and gain quantitative understanding of the regulation of VO2 at the cellular, tissue and whole-body level, a multiscale computational model of oxygen transport and metabolism during exercise was developed. The model incorporates mechanisms of oxygen transport from the airway opening to working muscle and other-organs cells, as well as the phosphagenic and oxidative pathways of ATP synthesis in these tissue cells. Model simulations of external (VO2p) and cellular (UO2m) respiration show that, during moderate exercise, their characteristic mean response times are similar even when a transit delay exists between tissue cells and the external environment for normal subjects.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Animals
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Exercise / physiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mathematical Concepts
  • Models, Biological*
  • Muscle, Skeletal / blood supply
  • Muscle, Skeletal / metabolism
  • Oxygen / blood
  • Oxygen Consumption
  • Physical Exertion / physiology
  • Pulmonary Circulation
  • Respiratory Physiological Phenomena*

Substances

  • Oxygen