An undergraduate perspective on LINDSAY Composer: bridging the gap between software engineering and physiology

Authors

  • Douglas Wing-Kwok Yuen The University of Calgary
  • Tatiana Karaman The University of Calgary
  • Jeff Wintersinger The University of Calgary

Keywords:

Biology, Computers, Model, Simulation, Software

Abstract

LINDSAY Composer is a project aiming to capitalise on advances in computer technology, providing a fully immersive and interactive platform for modelling physiological systems. Allowing its users to design models using a set of customisable, shared components, LINDSAY Composer permits for a diverse range of systems to be simulated, as well as allowing for these systems to interact with one another. We present three undergraduate projects here, reflecting on the adaptability of LINDSAY Composer; the program has allowed for novel user-interactions to be implemented, alongside two simulations, the nephron and reflex arc, to be modelled with high accuracy and performance. Despite being disjoint, these projects are all designed within LINDSAY Composer and are built upon the same basic components. Their unique functions and behaviours are implemented as specialised components that confer system-specific behaviours, illustrating the Composer's potential applicability in educational and clinical settings as a platform for providing a straightforward means of visualising any system of the user's choosing, as well as its capacity to adapt to ever-changing technological paradigms.

Author Biographies

Douglas Wing-Kwok Yuen, The University of Calgary

Bioinformatics Major, Bachelor of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Fourth Year Undergradutate Student

Tatiana Karaman, The University of Calgary

Bioinformatics Major, Bachelor of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Fourth Year Undergradutate Student

Jeff Wintersinger, The University of Calgary

Bioinformatics Major, Bachelor of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Third Year Undergradutate Student

References

C. Jacob, S. von Mammen, T. Davison, A. Sarraf-Shirazi, V. Sarpe, A. Esmaeili et al. in Advances in Intelligent Modelling and Simulation: Artificial Intelligenec-Based Models and Techniques in Scalable Computing, J. Kolodziej, S.U. Khan, and T. Burczynski Eds. Springer Verlag, Berlin, ed. 1, 2012, p.p. 327–349.

C. Jonker and J. Treur. "Agent-oriented modeling of the dynamics of biological organisms". Appl. Intell. 27, 2007.

C. Macal and M. North. "Agent-based modelling and simulation". Proceedings of the 2009 Winter Simulation Conference, 2009.

A. Remuzzi. "Mathematical description of transport of water and macromolecules through the glomerular capillary wall". Curr. Opin. Nephrol. Hy. 4(4), 1995.

K. O’Hara , R. Harper , H. Mentis, A.Sellen and A. Taylor. "On the naturalness of touchless: putting the “interaction” back into NUI". ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (ToCHI), Microsoft Research, 2012.

Kinect Confirmed As Fastest-Selling Consumer Electronics Device [webpage]. Guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved March 10, 2011. Avaliable from http://community.guinnessworldrecords.com/_Kinect-Confirmed-As-Fastest-Selling-Consumer-Electronics-Device/blog/3376939/7691.html

Teaching natural user interaction using OpenNI and the Microsoft Kinect sensor. Proceedings of the 2011 conference on Information technology education New York, NY, USA: ACM; 2011.

B.A. Myers. "A brief history of human-computer interaction technology". Interact. 5(2), 1998.

A. Malizia and A. Bellucci. "The artificiality of natural user interfaces". Commun ACM. 55(3), 2012.

Leap Motion Unveils World's Most Accurate 3-D Motion Control Technology for Computing [webpage]. Marketwire. Leap Motion. Retrieved May 23, 2012. Avaliable from http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/leap-motion-unveils-worlds-most-accurate-3-d-motion-control-technology-for-computing-1659460.htm.

D.A. Norman. "Natural user interfaces are not natural". Interactions. 17(3), 2010.

W. Kapit, R.I. Macey and E. Meisami. The Physiology Coloring Book. San Francisco, CA, US: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc, 2000.

A.G. Brown. Nerve Cells and Nervous Systems: An Introduction to Neuroscience. 2nd ed. SummerHall, Edinburgh, UK: Springer-Verlag London Limited, 2001.

P. Darpan. "Functional Units of the Nervous System". Compet. Sci. Visi. 7(78), 2004.

U. Lee, C.H. Lee, U. Oh. "Painful Channels in Sensory Neurons". Mol. Cell. 20(3), 2005.

B. Hille. "Ionic Basis of Resting and Action Potential". Compr. Physiol. 1, 1988.

W.F. Boron and E.L Boulpaep. Medical Physiology: A Cellular and Molecular Approach. Elsevier Saunders: Philadelphia, PA, 2005.

A.C. Guyton and J.E. Hall. "Urine formation by the kidneys: I. Glomerular filtration, renal blood flow, and their control". Textbook of Medical Physiology. 11th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier Inc, 2006.

S.D. Roth. "Ray Casting for Modeling Solids". Computer Graphics and Image Processing. Comput Vision Graph. 18(2), 1982.

S. Nielsen, B.L. Smith, E.I. Christensen, M.A. Knepper and Agre P. "CHIP28 Water channels are located in consecutively water-permeable segments of the nephron". J. Cell. Biol. 120(2), 1993.

R. Greger. "Ion transport mechanisms in thick ascending limb of Henle's Loop of mammalian nephron". Physiol. Rev. 65(3), 1985.

E. Coumans et al. (2011). Bullet Physics Library. [Computer Software]. San Francisco Bay, CA: Bullet Physics Simulation for Film and Games. Retrieved September 19, 2011. Available from http://bulletphysics.org/wordpress/

F. Morel. Sites of hormone action in the mammalian nephron. Am. J. Physiol. 197, 1981.

Downloads

Published

2013-07-19

Issue

Section

Review Articles