Mechanical Models of Artery Walls Chapter 3: History of Artery Wall Modelling - Excercises

Pre-reading excercises

1. Draw a simple model of the cardiovascular system and name its main parts (arteries, veins, heart etc.)
2. Think about a model of the system as tree with the heart as its root

Comprehension questions

1. What is the meaning of the words systole and diastole?
   • the contraction of heart chambers, driving blood out of the chambers
   • the period of time when the heart relaxes after systole (contraction)
2. What do ODE and PDE stand for (as they’re not explained in the article)?
   • ODE - Ordinary Differential Equations
   • PDE - Partial Differential Equations
3. What is the role of the artery walls in the Windkessel theory?
   • a reservoir of energy

Possible topics for discussion

1. Do you think it is possible to create a mathematical model of the cardiovascular system that will perfectly match the real one?

Possible difficulties

A difficult text as far as the English goes but with relatively low computer science content; requires minimum medical knowledge.