title: Towards the virtual artery: a multiscale model for vascular physiology at the physics-chemistry-biology interface.
abstract: This discussion paper introduces the concept of the Virtual Artery as a multiscale model for arterial physiology and pathologies at the physics-chemistry-biology (PCB) interface. The cellular level is identified as the mesoscopic level, and we argue that by coupling cell-based models with other relevant models on the macro- and microscale, a versatile model of arterial health and disease can be composed. We review the necessary ingredients, both models of arteries at many different scales, as well as generic methods to compose multiscale models. Next, we discuss how this can be combined into the virtual artery. Finally, we argue that the concept of models at the PCB interface could or perhaps should become a powerful paradigm, not only as in our case for studying physiology, but also for many other systems that have such PCB interfaces.This article is part of the themed issue 'Multiscale modelling at the physics-chemistry-biology interface'.
authors.affiliation: Computational Science Laboratory, Institute for Informatics, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands High Performance Computing Department, ITMO University, Saint Petersburg, Russia a.g.hoekstra@uva.nl.
authors.forename: Alfons G
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3955-2449
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Hoekstra
authors.affiliation: Computational Science Laboratory, Institute for Informatics, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Saad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alowayyed
authors.affiliation: Computational Science Laboratory, Institute for Informatics, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands Electric Ant Lab BV, Panamalaan 4 K, 1019AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lorenz
authors.affiliation: High Performance Computing Department, ITMO University, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Melnikova
authors.affiliation: Computational Science Laboratory, Institute for Informatics, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lampros
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mountrakis
authors.affiliation: Computational Science Laboratory, Institute for Informatics, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Britt
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van Rooij
authors.affiliation: High Performance Computing Department, ITMO University, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Svitenkov
authors.affiliation: Computational Science Laboratory, Institute for Informatics, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Sciencepark 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Gábor
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Závodszky
authors.affiliation: High Performance Computing Department, ITMO University, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001158:Arteries / Q000502:physiology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D012212:Rheology / Q000379:methods*; D033081:Shear Strength / Q000502:physiology
keywords: arterial physiology; multiscale model; virtual artery