All issues

The study of the physiological and pathophysiological processes in the cardiovascular system is one of the important contemporary issues, which is addressed in many works. In this work, several approaches to the mathematical modelling of the blood flow are considered. They are based on the spatial order reduction and/or use a steady-state approach. Attention is paid to the discussion of the assumptions and suggestions, which are limiting the scope of such models. Some typical mathematical formulations are considered together with the brief review of their numerical implementation. In the first part, we discuss the models, which are based on the full spatial order reduction and/or use a steady-state approach. One of the most popular approaches exploits the analogy between the flow of the viscous fluid in the elastic tubes and the current in the electrical circuit. Such models can be used as an individual tool. They also used for the formulation of the boundary conditions in the models using one dimensional (1D) and three dimensional (3D) spatial coordinates. The use of the dynamical compartment models allows describing haemodynamics over an extended period (by order of tens of cardiac cycles and more). Then, the steady-state models are considered. They may use either total spatial reduction or two dimensional (2D) spatial coordinates. This approach is used for simulation the blood flow in the region of microcirculation. In the second part, we discuss the models, which are based on the spatial order reduction to the 1D coordinate. The models of this type require relatively small computational power relative to the 3D models. Within the scope of this approach, it is also possible to include all large vessels of the organism. The 1D models allow simulation of the haemodynamic parameters in every vessel, which is included in the model network. The structure and the parameters of such a network can be set according to the literature data. It also exists methods of medical data segmentation. The 1D models may be derived from the 3D Navier – Stokes equations either by asymptotic analysis or by integrating them over a volume. The major assumptions are symmetric flow and constant shape of the velocity profile over a cross-section. These assumptions are somewhat restrictive and arguable. Some of the current works paying attention to the 1D model’s validation, to the comparing different 1D models and the comparing 1D models with clinical data. The obtained results reveal acceptable accuracy. It allows concluding, that the 1D approach can be used in medical applications. 1D models allow describing several dynamical processes, such as pulse wave propagation, Korotkov’s tones. Some physiological conditions may be included in the 1D models: gravity force, muscles contraction force, regulation and autoregulation.

The paper presents a review of recent developments of hybrid discrete-continuous models in cell population dynamics. Such models are widely used in the biological modelling. Cells are considered as individual objects which can divide, die by apoptosis, differentiate and move under external forces. In the simplest representation cells are considered as soft spheres, and their motion is described by Newton’s second law for their centers. In a more complete representation, cell geometry and structure can be taken into account. Cell fate is determined by concentrations of intra-cellular substances and by various substances in the extracellular matrix, such as nutrients, hormones, growth factors. Intra-cellular regulatory networks are described by ordinary differential equations while extracellular species by partial differential equations. We illustrate the application of this approach with some examples including bacteria filament and tumor growth. These examples are followed by more detailed studies of erythropoiesis and immune response. Erythrocytes are produced in the bone marrow in small cellular units called erythroblastic islands. Each island is formed by a central macrophage surrounded by erythroid progenitors in different stages of maturity. Their choice between self-renewal, differentiation and apoptosis is determined by the ERK/Fas regulation and by a growth factor produced by the macrophage. Normal functioning of erythropoiesis can be compromised by the development of multiple myeloma, a malignant blood disorder which leads to a destruction of erythroblastic islands and to sever anemia. The last part of the work is devoted to the applications of hybrid models to study immune response and the development of viral infection. A two-scale model describing processes in a lymph node and other organs including the blood compartment is presented.

The article is devoted to the numerical study of shock-wave flows in inhomogeneous media–gas mixtures. In this work, a two-speed two-temperature model is used, in which the dispersed component of the mixture has its own speed and temperature. To describe the change in the concentration of the dispersed component, the equation of conservation of “average density” is solved. This study took into account interphase thermal interaction and interphase pulse exchange. The mathematical model allows the carrier component of the mixture to be described as a viscous, compressible and heat-conducting medium. The system of equations was solved using the explicit Mac-Cormack second-order finite-difference method. To obtain a monotone numerical solution, a nonlinear correction scheme was applied to the grid function. In the problem of shock-wave flow, the Dirichlet boundary conditions were specified for the velocity components, and the Neumann boundary conditions were specified for the other unknown functions. In numerical calculations, in order to reveal the dependence of the dynamics of the entire mixture on the properties of the solid component, various parameters of the dispersed phase were considered — the volume content as well as the linear size of the dispersed inclusions. The goal of the research was to determine how the properties of solid inclusions affect the parameters of the dynamics of the carrier medium — gas. The motion of an inhomogeneous medium in a shock duct divided into two parts was studied, the gas pressure in one of the channel compartments is more important than in the other. The article simulated the movement of a direct shock wave from a high-pressure chamber to a low–pressure chamber filled with a dusty medium and the subsequent reflection of a shock wave from a solid surface. An analysis of numerical calculations showed that a decrease in the linear particle size of the gas suspension and an increase in the physical density of the material from which the particles are composed leads to the formation of a more intense reflected shock wave with a higher temperature and gas density, as well as a lower speed of movement of the reflected disturbance reflected wave.

In Russian medicine two radiopharmaceuticals are currently used for radionuclide therapy of bone metastases: ⁸⁹Sr-chloride and ¹⁵³Sm-oxabifor. The first one has many side effects, so its use is limited. The second one is available only in clinics, its transportation to which does not take much time. Currently, the third radiopharmaceutical ¹⁸⁸Re-solerene is undergoing clinical trials. Due to the generator method of obtaining ¹⁸⁸Re, this radiopharmaceutical should become available for use in many regions of our country. Therefore, there is a need for a comparative analysis of the characteristics of these radiopharmaceuticals, including on the basis of mathematical modeling.

The article discusses the features of mathematical modeling the kinetics of osteotropic radiopharmaceutical drugs in the human body with bone metastases. Based on the four-compartment model, a complex of modeling and calculation of pharmacokinetic and dosimetric characteristics of radiopharmaceuticals for radionuclide therapy of bone metastases was developed and tested. Using clinical data, the transport constants of the model were identified and the individual characteristics of Russian radiopharmaceuticals labeled ⁸⁹Sr, 153Sm and ¹⁸⁸Re were calculated (effective half-lives, maximum activity in the compartments and the times of their achievement, absorbed doses to bone tissue and metastases, endosteal bone layer, red bone marrow, blood, kidneys and bladder). The time activity dependencies for all compartments of the model are obtained and analyzed. A comparative analysis of the pharmacokinetics and dosimetry of three radiopharmaceuticals (⁸⁹Sr-chloride, ¹⁵³Sm-oxabiphore, ¹⁸⁸Re-solerene) was carried out.

From a comparative analysis of the pharmacokinetic and dosimetric characteristics of these radiopharmaceutical drugs, it follows that the best of them for widespread use in many regions of our country should be ¹⁸⁸Re-solerene, taking into account the generator method of obtaining ¹⁸⁸Re in a hospital.

Radiopharmaceuticals with iodine radioisotopes are now widely used in imaging and non-imaging methods of nuclear medicine. When evaluating the results of radionuclide studies of the structural and functional state of organs and tissues, parallel modeling of the kinetics of radiopharmaceuticals in the body plays an important role. The complexity of such modeling lies in two opposite aspects. On the one hand, excessive simplification of the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the organism when splitting it to the compartments that may result in the loss or distortion of important clinical diagnosis information, on the other – excessive, taking into account all possible interdependencies of the functioning of the organs and systems that, on the contrary, will lead to excess amount of absolutely useless for clinical interpretation of the data or the mathematical model becomes even more intractable. Our work develops a unified approach to the construction of mathematical models of the kinetics of radiopharmaceuticals with iodine isotopes in the human body during diagnostic and therapeutic procedures of nuclear medicine. Based on this approach, three- and four-compartment pharmacokinetic models were developed and corresponding calculation programs were created in the C⁺⁺ programming language for processing and evaluating the results of radionuclide diagnostics and therapy. Various methods for identifying model parameters based on quantitative data from radionuclide studies of the functional state of vital organs are proposed. The results of pharmacokinetic modeling for radionuclide diagnostics of the liver, kidney, and thyroid using iodine-containing radiopharmaceuticals are presented and analyzed. Using clinical and diagnostic data, individual pharmacokinetic parameters of transport of different radiopharmaceuticals in the body (transport constants, half-life periods, maximum activity in the organ and the time of its achievement) were determined. It is shown that the pharmacokinetic characteristics for each patient are strictly individual and cannot be described by averaged kinetic parameters. Within the framework of three pharmacokinetic models, “Activity–time” relationships were obtained and analyzed for different organs and tissues, including for tissues in which the activity of a radiopharmaceutical is impossible or difficult to measure by clinical methods. Also discussed are the features and the results of simulation and dosimetric planning of radioiodine therapy of the thyroid gland. It is shown that the values of absorbed radiation doses are very sensitive to the kinetic parameters of the compartment model. Therefore, special attention should be paid to obtaining accurate quantitative data from ultrasound and thyroid radiometry and identifying simulation parameters based on them. The work is based on the principles and methods of pharmacokinetics. For the numerical solution of systems of differential equations of the pharmacokinetic models we used Runge–Kutta methods and Rosenbrock method. The Hooke–Jeeves method was used to find the minimum of a function of several variables when identifying modeling parameters.