PHYSIOMICS OF CORONARY PERFUSION AND CARDIAC PUMPING

Physiome is considered to be a powerful successor to the genome. Physiome refers to a quantitative description of the physiologic dynamics or functions of the intact organism. It includes integration of knowledge through functional modules and modelling of hierarchic system elements of biologic systems. Biomechanics offers potent tools to promote the physiome concept. By using modern microvisualization technology with physiomic model of coronary circulatory network, this chapter introduces our physiomic approach to coronary microcirculation, which supplies oxygen and nutrients to heart muscles. The heart is unique, among other organs, in that coronary arterial flow is exclusively diastolic while venous flow is systolic. That is, blood pooled in coronary microvessels (during diastole) is squeezed out to the coronary vein by myocardial contraction. In this chapter, we first describe the biomechanical interaction between coronary blood flow and cardiac contraction. Then, the physiome of coronary capillary network and its functions are discussed.