In Silico Methods in Mechanical Ventilation

In assisted ventilation, the respiratory drive, lung mechanics, gas exchange, and the ventilator continuously influence one another. At the Institute for Medical Electrical Engineering, we study these relationships using physiologically based mathematical in silico models.

The models simulate spontaneous and assisted breathing in a closed-loop system. They make it possible to investigate clinically relevant questions under controlled conditions and to test hypotheses regarding ventilation, respiratory regulation, and patient-ventilator interaction.
 

Research Focus Areas

  • Modelling of Respiratory Regulation and Patient-Ventilator Interaction: We investigate how respiratory drive, ventilator parameters, and lung properties influence the interaction between the patient and the ventilator. In this context, asynchronies—such as delayed or ineffective triggering—can arise in the model due to physiological feedback loops.
     
  • Virtual patient cohorts and in silico studies: Virtual cohorts make it possible to systematically investigate different clinical presentations and changes in respiratory mechanics, gas exchange, or sedation.
     
  • Model credibility: A key focus is on the verification and validation of physiological models. To this end, we compare simulations with literature and clinical data and analyze uncertainties as well as the influence of individual model parameters. 

 

Publications

  • Hennigs, C. et al. (2026): Patient-ventilator interaction—Development of a mathematical model of the respiratory center.Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, doi.org/10.1016/j.cmpb.2026.109329

  • C. Hennigs et al. (2026): Validation of a Computational Respiratory System Model for Mechanical Ventilation, doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2607.06210

  • C. Hennigs et al. (2024): A switching lung mechanics model for detection of expiratory flow limitation. at – Automatisierungstechnik, 72(5), 417–428.
    doi.org/10.1515/auto-2023-0206

 

Carlotta Hennigs 
Group Leader: In Silico Methods in Mechanical Ventilation 
carlotta.hennigs@uni-luebeck.de