A multi-cellular distributed model for Nitric Oxide transport in the blood

In this work, a multi-cellular, spatially distributed model, that describes the production, transport and consumption of Nitric Oxide (NO) in blood vessels and the surrounding tissue, is developed. In contrast to previous modeling efforts, such as continuum and single-cell models, the current model accounts explicitly for the presence of, and interactions among, a population of red blood cells (RBCs) inside the blood vessel. Using mainly experimentally derived parameters, the model equations, subject to the appropriate boundary conditions, are solved for the NO concentration profile using an efficient finite-element algorithm.