Control of whole heart geometry by intramyocardial mechano-feedback: a model study.

ABSTRACT: Geometry of the heart adapts to mechanical load, imposed by pressures and volumes of the cavities. We regarded preservation of cardiac geometry as a homeostatic control system. The control loop was simulated by a chain of models, starting with geometry of the cardiac walls, sequentially simulating circulation hemodynamics, myofiber stress and strain in the walls, transfer of mechano-sensed signals to structural changes of the myocardium, and finalized by calculation of resulting changes in cardiac wall geometry. Instead of modeling detailed mechano-transductive pathways and their interconnections, we used principles of control theory to find optimal transfer functions, representing the overall biological responses to mechanical signals. As biological responses we regarded tissue mass, exte

SUBMITTER: Arts T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3276542 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature