The human body requires a complex circulatory system to supply nutrients to, and to remove metabolic waste products from, its tissues. Given this primary purpose, circulatory function is closely related to the hemodynamic characteristics of blood vessels. This includes not only macroscale fluid dynamics, but also mass transfer in the microvasculature. Many experimental and clinical studies have examined these characteristics of vascular function. Over the past 50 years, mathematical modeling has become a powerful adjunct to such studies, as modeling provides a rational framework within which to analyze the cardiovascular system
