Figure 2.

Full coupled model. Original patches from a public emphysema database are segmented to separate the parenchyma from the vessels and airways and seed deposition is simulated. For each seeded pixel and for all its neighbors we run a simulation job that represent the evolution of 130 alveoli. In each job there is a cyclic sequence between the agent and finite element model. At each step the former simulate additional particle deposition that accounts for continued smoking; release of inflammatory cytokines and degradation of mechanical properties. Periodically the AB model is frozen and the calculated tissue properties are imported in the AB-FE coupler code which will reconstruct a topologically equivalent geometry, recover the contours of the damaged zones and assign new material properties taking into account the final amount of collagen and elastin from the AB model. The resulting information is passed to the FE solver that runs until convergence and then export the strain results for further processing. After the FE solver has run, the second coupler code, FE-AB is run to import the strain field and calculate which fibers, if any, have been destroyed in the simulation. It thus updates the AB status and restarts it with the updated state.