PNEUMA - a comprehensive cardiorespiratory model

The dynamic interactions among the peripheral inputs that originate from the chemoreflexes, baroreflexes and pulmonary stretch receptors, together with central autonomic coupling between respiratory and cardiovascular efferents, play important roles in determining the physiological effects that accompany sleep-disordered breathing. However, previous modeling studies have focussed primarily on specific regions of interest. The purpose of this study was to integrate the key features of existing cardiovascular and respiratory models into a comprehensive model that is capable of simulating the dynamics of cardiorespiratory control during wakefulness and sleep. PNEUMA is implemented using SIMULINK® (The Mathworks, Natick, MA), which provides a graphical environment that allows the user to easily convert control block diagrams into networks of blocks of mathematical functions. The advantages of PNEUMA lie in: (1) the modularity of its various components; (2) the flexibility with which changes can be made to selected portions of the program; and (3) transportability of the model across different computer platforms and operating systems.