Simulation of human cardiovascular system

Abstract

In traditional pulse diagnosis method diseases of internal organs are diagnosed by measuring the blood pulse by palpating using three fingers placed on the radial artery just below the wrist. The diagnosis is made by inferring the qualitative features of the pressure pulses under these three fingers. Though efficient, the diagnosis can only be done by highly experienced practitioners who are few in number. A solution to this problem would be to develop a measurement system with which the pulses can be measured accurately and diagnosis can be done objectively. Developing such a system demands knowledge of how the pulse diagnosis works in terms of the physiology of human body. Blood pulse is a pressure wave of distension caused by the pumping of heart. It is part of the human cardiovascular system. Since a mathematical model can be used to gain deeper insights about the system, a reasonably accurate model of the cardiovascular system would be helpful in analysing the pressure pulse waveforms produced at the radial artery. The model can be used to simulate the pressure pulses. This would help to shed light into the science behind the methodology of pulse diagnosis. In this work, a model of the cardiovascular system is sought with which the manifestation of pulses at the radial artery can be studied. The cardiovascular models by M. Ursino and Leaning et al. is studied in detail. To exploit the advantages of both models, representation of heart and vascular system is taken from first and second models respectively and they are combined into a single model. The model is simulated in Simulink and the pressure waveforms at the left ventricle, aorta and arm are generated. The simulated waveform is qualitatively similar to the pressure waveform. With further investigation an accurate model of the cardiovascular system which can generate the three pulses at the radial artery can be developed.