An Integrated Approach to the Study of the Venous System with Steps Toward a Detailed Model of the Dynamics of Venous Return to the Right Heart

Abstract

We attempt to define, in terms familiar to engineers, physicists, and workers in the life sciences, the uncontrolled mechanical system returning venous blood to the right heart. Our ultimate aim is to complete a description of the venous circulation useful to close the loop with current models of the arterial circulation and the heart. Such a detailed global circulatory model will incorporate eventually enough control theory to render insight into basic regulatory mechanisms of man in health and disease. Only a multidisciplinary approach can lead to this ultimate objective.