CARDIOVASCULAR PATHOPHYSIOLOGY SIMULATIONS FOR TEACHING

THE CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM IS AN INTEGRATED SYSTEM WHERE THE PERFORMANCE OF EACH PART DEPENDS ON THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL THE OTHER PARTS AND THE TOPOLOGIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THEM. IF STUDENTS ARE TO UNDERSTAND WHOLE-SYSTEM BEHAVIORS, THE FUNCTION OF THE SYSTEM MUST BE TAUGHT AS A WHOLE. OUR PREVIOUS WORK HAS DEVELOPED SIMULATIONS THAT ARE SUCCESSFULLY USED FOR TEACHING THE NORMAL PHYSIOLOGY OF THE: ACTION POTENTIAL, ISOLATED MUSCLE, ISOLATED HEART, SYSTEMIC CIRCULATION, HEART-LUNG BLOOD PUMP AND CLOSED CIRCULATORY LOOP. THE FIRST FOUR ARE CURRENTLY PUBLISHED FOR TEACHING FIRST YEAR MEDICAL STUDENTS NORMAL CARDIOVASCULAR PHYSIOLOCY. CARDIOVASCULAR PATHOPHYSIOLOGY IS AN IMPORTANT MEDICAL TOPIC, AS WELL AS A USEFUL TOOL FOR REINFORCING KNOWLEDGE ABOUT NORMAL PHYSIOLOGY. FOR EXAMPLE, VALVULAR DISEASE (E.G., REGURGITATION OR STENOSIS) ILLUSTRATE BY COUNTER-EXAMPLE THE ROLL OF PROPERLY FUNCTIONING HEART VALVE. WE WILL DEVELOP THE FOLLOWING NEW PATHOPHYSIOLOGY MODELS: CORONARY HEART DISEASE; CARDIOMYOPATHIES; VALVULAR HEART DISEASE; ARTERIOSCLEROSIS; HYPERTENSION; PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE; NORMAL FETAL/NEONATAL CIRCULATION, CONGENITAL CIRCULATORY DESEASES; AND ARRHYTHMIAS. FOR EACH TOPIC, TWO KINDS OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE WILL BE DEVELOPED: 1) A NUMERICAL SIMULATION THAT PREDICTS INSTANTANEOUS PRESSURE FLOWS, VOLUMES AND OXYGEN CONCENTRATIONS; AND 2) QUALITATIVE MODELS THAT SERVE AS KNOWLEDGE-BASES FOR STUDENT DIAGNOSTIC PROBLEM SOLVING WITH THE DIAGNOSTIC CRITICAL SOFTWARE.