Mathematics at the service of the kidneys

2001/02/27 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Osasuna
• Matematika

In the last decade, mathematician Bruce Pitman has worked on both, since in addition to making large designs at an industrial level, he has studied the nephron, a functional unit of kidneys of 20 microns. In collaboration with other researchers, he has used mathematical models to understand the functioning of the kidneys.

In the human body there are about a million nephrons in each of the kidneys. They filter the water, salts and potassium needed by the body and let urea and other waste be removed by urine.

Understanding the work of nefrons in healthy animals facilitates knowledge of the origin and treatment of kidney diseases. To do this, based on the physiology and dynamics of fluids, they have developed specific computer models adapting to nephroons.

In animal tests with normal blood pressure, fluid pressure remains constant in the nephron. But in animals with high pressure it is much more variable. In addition, they have found that these changes occur when the body receives a lot of salt. Therefore, they have shown that blood pressure, salt quantity and fluid dynamics are related.

The adaptation of the equations must take into account all the variables, so the trials and subsequent adjustments of the computer model must continue.