Computer Simulation to Study Inflammatory Response

Abstract

Systemic inflammatory response syndrome and its progression to multi-organ dysfunction syndrome represent a major challenge in the field of trauma and critical care medicine. This disease state is a product of disorders of the body’s natural response to injury. Attempts to treat this at a molecular level using information from basic science research have been unsuccessful, even detrimental. It is possible that this is due to a failure to account for the nonlinear, complex nature of the inflammatory response in formulating treatment regimes. It is proposed that agent-based computer simulation may be a way to characterize the dynamics of the inflammatory response. This article presents an abstract model of a generic tissue system. Modeling the inflammatory response as a nonlinear complex system may produce simulations that will shed light on the complex nature of the inflammatory response. In the future, more sophisticated simulations may provide a testing framework for designing and evaluating treatment regimes.