Modeling of Complex Biomedical Systems

Finally, Section 2.4 analyses a simplified model of a bursting pancreatic /3-cell [12]. The purpose of this section is to underline the importance of complex nonlinear dynamic phenomena in biomedical systems. Living systems operate under far-from-equilibrium conditions. This implies that, contrary to the conventional assumption of homeostasis, many regulatory mechanisms are actually unstable and produce self-sustained oscillatory dynamics. The electrophysiological processes of the pancreatic /3-cell display (at least) two interacting oscillatory processes A fast process associated with the K+ dynamics and a much slower process associated with the Ca2+ dynamics. Together these two processes can explain the characteristic bursting dynamics in the membrane potential. 

Cammarota, Jr., J.P. and Onaral, B. (1998) State transitions in physiologic systems A complexity model for loss of consciousness. IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering 45 1017-23... 

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