The cardiovascular system is highly dynamic and responds to mechanical stimuli by adapting its anatomy and physiology. This process is important for adapting the blood supply as the needs of the body change, for instance by making the heart grow in response to exercise. However, this regulatory process can progress from compensatory to pathological with disease or injury, and it plays a central role in progressive and chronic heart diseases such as heart failure. Computational models of cardiovascular mechanics are increasingly used for understanding the dynamics of strains and for estimation of local stresses that cannot be measured experimentally in the heart and arteries. These models have also been extended to describe growth dynamics in the cardiovascular system. Despite recent progress in modeling, however, many important questions remain unresolved. For instance, what are the main mechanical stimuli and drivers of the growth and remodeling process, how are these drivers sensed and processed on the myocyte level, and how models can be developed to efficiently bridge across time scales ranging from a single heart cycle to several months.
The present Research Topic addresses fundamental challenges in computational modeling of cardiovascular growth and remodeling, and aims to present a representative overview of the state of the art in the research field.
We specially encourage submissions of new research but review papers and comments may also be included. Contributions addressed may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
• Biophysically based models of growth and remodeling processes on sub-cellular and tissue scale.
• Multiscale computational models of growth and remodeling, that address the fundamental challenge of disparate spatial and temporal scales in the process.
• Studies of growth and remodeling in response to specific cardiovascular diseases.
• Models that couple cardiovascular growth and remodeling with regulation and pathological changes of the circulatory system.
Topic Editor Samuel Wall is the founder and co-owner of Organos, Inc. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.
The cardiovascular system is highly dynamic and responds to mechanical stimuli by adapting its anatomy and physiology. This process is important for adapting the blood supply as the needs of the body change, for instance by making the heart grow in response to exercise. However, this regulatory process can progress from compensatory to pathological with disease or injury, and it plays a central role in progressive and chronic heart diseases such as heart failure. Computational models of cardiovascular mechanics are increasingly used for understanding the dynamics of strains and for estimation of local stresses that cannot be measured experimentally in the heart and arteries. These models have also been extended to describe growth dynamics in the cardiovascular system. Despite recent progress in modeling, however, many important questions remain unresolved. For instance, what are the main mechanical stimuli and drivers of the growth and remodeling process, how are these drivers sensed and processed on the myocyte level, and how models can be developed to efficiently bridge across time scales ranging from a single heart cycle to several months.
The present Research Topic addresses fundamental challenges in computational modeling of cardiovascular growth and remodeling, and aims to present a representative overview of the state of the art in the research field.
We specially encourage submissions of new research but review papers and comments may also be included. Contributions addressed may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
• Biophysically based models of growth and remodeling processes on sub-cellular and tissue scale.
• Multiscale computational models of growth and remodeling, that address the fundamental challenge of disparate spatial and temporal scales in the process.
• Studies of growth and remodeling in response to specific cardiovascular diseases.
• Models that couple cardiovascular growth and remodeling with regulation and pathological changes of the circulatory system.
Topic Editor Samuel Wall is the founder and co-owner of Organos, Inc. The other Topic Editors declare no competing interests with regard to the Research Topic subject.
