ABSTRACT
I n the large field of physiological processes such as, for instance, transportation and delivery of substances in the circulatory systems of the body, computer experiments and simulation studies can be very effectively applied. In the computer model, significant characteristics (e.g., perfusion pressure and total flow in the circulation, or the bifurcation law of branching vessels) are taken into account in terms of boundary conditions and constraints. After tuning the parameters and validating a model such that measurement data (e.g., pulsatile blood flow) can be quantitatively or at least qualitatively reproduced, the model is ready to be applied to scrutinize a large variety of questions which cannot be addressed experimentally because of ethical reasons, very high costs, or methodological limitations. The possibility of systematic parameter variation in the computer model is a powerful approach to simulate arbitrary “ex perimental” conditions under which functional relations of the system may be studied and elucidated.
