Model Based Analysis of Physiological Signals

Abstract

There are two main approaches to modeling physiological systems and the choice of either approach depends on the end purpose and the ease of implementation. The first approach is to obtain a set of mathematical equations that will mimic the physical behavior of the physiological system in as much detail as possible. This means that particular chemical reactions, effects of structural arrangements, etc., will have corresponding mathematical formulations. These models called biophysical models are of great use in physiological research where the behavior of the model is used to validate experimental data, and also to speculate on unknown parts of the physiological system. Such biophysical models are also used in what are called computer experiments, where the model is used to study or predict the behavior of the physiological system under conditions that are difficult to actually produce (the difficulty may be due to either actual physical complexities or it may be due to ethical constraints).