A Molecular Communication Perspective on Detecting Arterial Plaque Formation

IF 2.4 Q2 ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC

IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications Pub Date : 2024-07-04 DOI:10.1109/TMBMC.2024.3423005

Pit Hofmann;Sebastian Schmidt;Alexander Wietfeld;Pengjie Zhou;Jonas Fuchtmann;Frank H. P. Fitzek;Wolfgang Kellerer

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Abstract

The formation of plaques in human blood vessels, known as atherosclerosis, represents one of the major causes of death worldwide. Synthetic molecular communication (MC), in combination with nanotechnology, is envisioned to enable novel approaches toward diagnosing, monitoring, and treating diseases. In this paper, we propose an investigation of the effects of plaque formation on the human blood vessel as an MC channel. By characterizing these changes, the early detection of plaques using MC networks in the human circulatory system could become possible. We model a simplified blood flow scenario in a human carotid artery using OpenFOAM. Nanoparticles are released in the bloodstream in front of a region obstructed by a plaque, and their transport and distribution are evaluated as they pass through. The results are obtained for different plaque sizes and channel lengths. We observe a significant impact of a growing plaque on the channel characteristics in terms of a reduced propagation delay and a decrease in the cumulative number of received particles due to particles trapped by the plaque. Therefore, the receiver could detect abnormalities from a change in these channel conditions over time. Further investigation of these methods in conjunction with more realistic modeling of the channel and communication nodes will be necessary to confirm the results. It could contribute towards advanced future methods of diagnosis.

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检测动脉斑块形成的分子通讯视角

人体血管中形成的斑块被称为动脉粥样硬化，是导致全球死亡的主要原因之一。合成分子通讯（MC）与纳米技术的结合被认为是诊断、监测和治疗疾病的新方法。在本文中，我们提出将斑块形成对人体血管的影响作为 MC 通道进行研究。通过确定这些变化的特征，利用 MC 网络对人体循环系统中的斑块进行早期检测将成为可能。我们使用 OpenFOAM 对人体颈动脉中的简化血流情景进行建模。纳米粒子被释放到斑块阻塞区域前的血流中，并在通过时对其传输和分布进行评估。结果是针对不同斑块大小和通道长度得出的。我们观察到，不断增大的斑块对信道特性有很大影响，表现为传播延迟缩短，以及由于斑块阻挡颗粒而导致接收颗粒的累积数量减少。因此，接收器可以从这些信道条件随时间的变化中检测到异常。有必要结合更现实的信道和通信节点建模对这些方法进行进一步研究，以确认结果。这将有助于开发未来先进的诊断方法。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications Mathematics-Modeling and Simulation

CiteScore

3.90

自引率

13.60%

发文量

期刊介绍： As a result of recent advances in MEMS/NEMS and systems biology, as well as the emergence of synthetic bacteria and lab/process-on-a-chip techniques, it is now possible to design chemical “circuits”, custom organisms, micro/nanoscale swarms of devices, and a host of other new systems. This success opens up a new frontier for interdisciplinary communications techniques using chemistry, biology, and other principles that have not been considered in the communications literature. The IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications (T-MBMSC) is devoted to the principles, design, and analysis of communication systems that use physics beyond classical electromagnetism. This includes molecular, quantum, and other physical, chemical and biological techniques; as well as new communication techniques at small scales or across multiple scales (e.g., nano to micro to macro; note that strictly nanoscale systems, 1-100 nm, are outside the scope of this journal). Original research articles on one or more of the following topics are within scope: mathematical modeling, information/communication and network theoretic analysis, standardization and industrial applications, and analytical or experimental studies on communication processes or networks in biology. Contributions on related topics may also be considered for publication. Contributions from researchers outside the IEEE’s typical audience are encouraged.