Analysis of Cardiopulmonary Functions by Analog Simulation and the Artificial Automatic Control of Respiration

Abstract

The development of analog simulation techniques and automatic control theories has enabled us to reveal many complicated characteristics of cardiopulmonary functions. The artificial automatic, adaptive control of impaired cardiac or respiratory functions is also an important point of interest for us. This paper deals with those problems with special reference to the simulation of respiratory dynamical systems, alveolar gas diffusion with the uneven distribution of the ventilation-perfusion ratio, the humoral control of respiration, the cardiovascular haemodynamical system and the circulatory control system. An example of the artificial automatic control of respiration with the feedback signal of mixed venous carbon dioxide partial pressure is also discussed.
The importance of the analog simulation techniques in medicine and the automatic control of human body is emphasized especially for space medicine and other medical problems in unusual environments.