The interdependent contributions of gravitational and structural features to perfusion distribution in a multiscale model of the pulmonary circulation

Abstract

Recent experimental and imaging studies suggest that the influence of gravity on the measured distribution of blood flow in the lung is largely through deformation of the parenchymal tissue. To study the contribution of hydrostatic effects to regional perfusion in the presence of tissue deformation, we have developed an anatomically structured computational model of the pulmonary circulation (arteries, capillaries, veins), coupled to a continuum model of tissue deformation, and including scale-appropriate fluid dynamics for blood flow in each vessel type. The model demonstrates that both structural and the multiple effects of gravity on the pulmonary circulation make a distinct contribution to the distribution of blood. It shows that postural differences in perfusion gradients can be explained by the combined effect of tissue deformation and extra-acinar blood vessel resistance to flow in the dependent tissue. However, gravitational perfusion gradients persist when the effect of tissue deformation is eliminated, highlighting the importance of the hydrostatic effects of gravity on blood distribution in the pulmonary circulation. Coupling of large- and small-scale models reveals variation in microcirculatory driving pressures within isogravitational planes due to extra-acinar vessel resistance. Variation in driving pressures is due to heterogeneous large-vessel resistance as a consequence of geometric asymmetry in the vascular trees and is amplified by the complex balance of pressures, distension, and flow at the microcirculatory level.