Table 1.

Summary of approaches used to model fibroblasts and fibrosis.

Physiology	Model Type	Description	Model Size	Spatial Scale	Time Scale	Reference s
Electrical	Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs)	Based on conservation of charge and ion channel biophysics	~10-100 parameters; 2-10 ODEs	10 μm−1 cm	msec - minutes	[22– 24,30,34,3 6,37]
	Finite Element Method (FEM)	Tissue modeled as continuum of elements, constrained by conservation of mass and charge.	~106 elements	10 cm	msec - minutes	[38]
Remodeling	FEM	Tissue modeled as continuum of elements, constrained by conservation of mass and momentum	100-500 elements	10 μm −1 cm	hours - weeks	[55–57,88]
	Agent Based Model (ABM)	Treats cells as agents responding to a set of rules.	1-5 agents, 10- 50 parameters	10 μm − 1 cm	hours -weeks	[10,58– 62,69,71]
	ODEs	Predicts changes in cells and proteins over time.	15 parameters; 4 ODEs	1 cm	weeks	[70]
Signaling	ODEs	Predicts changes in proteins, constrained by mass-action kinetics	10-200 parameters; 4- 100 ODEs	10 μm	seconds - hours	[78,79,83,8 4]
	Decision tree model	Predicts outcome based on a sequence of branching decisions	5 nodes	10 μm	NA	[81,82]
	Mixed-effects model	Statistical model calibrated to experimental data	13 parameters; one equation	10 μm	minutes	[86]