The AortaBelow is the subsystem that solves the equations for the aorta, the main artery of the heart. Emerging from the top of the heart, the aorta carries fresh blood from the hard-pumping left ventricle to all of the secondary arteries that branch out to all parts of the body.
Figure 1. Simulink block diagram of the aorta.
Physiological notes:Simulation notes:
- Input resistance is equivalent to the outlet resistance of the right ventricle.
- Output resistance is equivalent to the combined input resistance of the arms, head, trunk, and legs.
- It is assumed that there is no net heat gain or loss of heat.
- The weight of the aorta is roughly equivalent to the volume of blood, V, that it contains.
- The Goto and From blocks P4 and F5i-F8i are connections to other circulatory subsystems where the information flow is opposite of blood flow. Using the Goto and From blocks for these connections allows the connections to be made "below the surface", thereby keeping the main block diagram uncluttered and less confusing.
- Duplication of the From blocks F5i-F8i is used to keep this block diagram from being cluttered. Because Goto and From blocks are virtual blocks, they invoke no speed penalties*.
- The Goto block V4 allows key output information to be passed directly to the Analysis Subsystem, where it can be managed in one central location.
- The line labels are used to keep track of variable information, making the flow of information easier to track.
* Virtual blocks (e.g. Goto, From, Mux, Demux, Inport, Outport, etc.) invoke no speed penalties because the Simulink engine collapses the model to a single level with only direct connections before simulating. That is why they are called virtual blocks, they are eliminated internally at run-time.
