A simulation program for teaching basic principles of physiologic control

Abstract

In the human body, control systems maintain many physiological variables within narrow limits. To make medical students familiar with common properties of these physiological control systems, a simulation program is developed which demonstrates the functioning of control systems. Step by step, the student builds a block diagram of a basic control system. The input (load) and transfer function of subsystems can be varied, the responses of various subsystems are displayed. The program enables simulation of an open and closed loop system. It includes a proportional, integrating and differentiating control system. The simulation is written in VisualBasic, it runs in a Windows environment.