Simulation of metabolic processes in human circulation: evaluation of pH value and CO2 balance

Abstract

This article describes a model of the human circulatory system, with emphasis on metabolic processes in particular the calculation of CO2 balance and the pH of venous blood. The model overall is capable of simulating both physiological and pathological circulatory systems. Simulated parameters are locally distributed blood flows, and pressures in the arterial system. This modelling of haemodynamics serves, among other things, to determine the oxygen supply situation of individual organs. The four most important control mechanisms of the human circulatory system for maintaining haemodynamics--the renin-angiotensin system, the autonomic nervous system, local arterial autoregulation and vascular stress relaxation--have been incorporated into the model. Another important parameter for estimating the oxygen supply situation of the human body is the acid-base status of arterial and venous blood. The calculation of the pH of blood plasma and erythrocytes is described in the second part of the article. The results achieved with our simulation model correspond well with those reported in the literature. The behaviour of the human circulatory system can be reproduced at rest and under conditions of loading.