A computational model of cardiovascular physiology and heart sound generation.

A computational model of the cardiovascular system is described which provides a framework for implementing and testing quantitative physiological models of heart sound generation. The lumped-parameter cardiovascular model can be solved for the hemodynamic variables on which the heart sound generation process is built. Parameters of the cardiovascular model can be adjusted to represent various normal and pathological conditions, and the acoustic consequences of those adjustments can be explored. The combined model of the physiology of cardiovascular circulation and heart sound generation has promise for application in teaching, training and algorithm development in computer-aided auscultation of the heart.