Simulation of physiological systems
Gerald A. Miller · NCSU Libraries Repository (North Carolina State University Libraries) · 1984
Simulation, according to Webster, is the act of representing, feigning, giving an appearance, or assuming. This definition is quiet appropriate in physiological systems. Unlike the technological system, the problem is not the design or the improvement of the system, but rather the understanding of its blueprint. This process is a bit by bit effort in an attempt to unravel a system which has developed slowly over thousands of years of evolution.There are major difficulties in this process, which account for the relatively slow understanding of the workings of the human body. Firstly, there are thousands of subsystems each providing individual functions. Many of these subsystems are Interconnected in massive feedback and control networks. The eye alone contains a network of millions of connections and interconnections. Size of the system is, in itself, often a major stumbling block in the simulation process.