An object-oriented approach for model integration within virtual human: a computational environment for physiological modeling
Ming Gu · Journal of computing sciences in colleges · 2002
This project applies object-oriented principles and hierarchical design to improve the structure and run-time performance of a large simulation package. At Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Virtual Human (VH) is being developed as a simulation platform to investigate a wide range of human biological and physical responses to stimuli. The long-term goal of VH is to produce a comprehensive simulation of the structure and function of the entire human body that would integrate smaller models of individual organs, body processes, cells, and even neurons in the brain. While earlier development of VH enabled simulation of various physiological models, each time the integration of a new model to this platform requires more coding. The goal of this project is to modify VH's architecture so that it is more independent of individual models. In this project, the VH platform regards each model as an independent object. A model's XML configuration file and its function code are made to plug into the VH environment. A model's graphic user interface (GUI) is made more flexible and extensible by a set of painting objects, all of which extend a universal super class. As a result of this work, the VH architecture is now more general and easier to expand for inclusion of more features and connection to new models. Simulation runs are faster than previous architecture.