A system dynamics model approach for simulating hyper-inflammation in different COVID-19 patient scenarios
File version
Version of Record (VoR)
Author(s)
Hernández-Jiménez, E
Nettleton, DF
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
Size
File type(s)
Location
Abstract
The exceptionally high virulence of COVID-19 and the patients’ precondition seem to constitute primary factors in how pro-inflammatory cytokines production evolves during the course of an infection. We present a System Dynamics Model approach for simulating the patient reaction using two key control parameters (i) virulence, which can be “moderate” or “high” and (ii) patient precondition, which can be “healthy”, “not so healthy” or “serious preconditions”. In particular, we study the behaviour of Inflammatory (M1) Alveolar Macrophages, IL6 and Active Adaptive Immune system as indicators of the immune system response, together with the COVID viral load over time. The results show that it is possible to build an initial model of the system to explore the behaviour of the key attributes involved in the patient condition, virulence and response. The model suggests aspects that need further study so that it can then assist in choosing the correct immunomodulatory treatment, for instance the regime of application of an Interleukin 6 (IL-6) inhibitor (tocilizumab) that corresponds to the projected immune status of the patients. We introduce machine learning techniques to corroborate aspects of the model and propose that a dynamic model and machine learning techniques could provide a decision support tool to ICU physicians.
Journal Title
Conference Title
Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications - SIMULTECH
Book Title
Edition
Volume
Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
Publisher link
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement
© 2021 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) License, which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited.
Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject
Clinical sciences
Persistent link to this record
Citation
Estivill-Castro, V; Hernández-Jiménez, E; Nettleton, DF, A system dynamics model approach for simulating hyper-inflammation in different COVID-19 patient scenarios, Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications - SIMULTECH, 2021, pp. 141-143