Analytical Modeling of Open- and Closed-Loop Dispersive Molecular Communication Channels with Pulsatile Flow

2026-10-07

AI Summary

This study addresses the limitation of existing molecular communication channel models that neglect blood pulsatility and thus fail to accurately characterize complex in vivo transport environments. For the first time, a time-varying analytical model under pulsatile blood flow is established. By deriving normally distributed responses with time-varying means and variances alongside closed-form expansions, the model is systematically validated through three-dimensional particle simulations, parameter sweeps, and physiological waveforms. The research reveals how pulsatile effects govern molecular transport, proposes dimensionless metrics, and establishes an applicability criterion for one-dimensional models requiring S_Rx ≥ 2. Furthermore, it elucidates the mechanisms by which vascular properties influence model accuracy, providing a reliable theoretical foundation for the design of in vivo molecular communication systems.

Abstract

Molecular communication (MC) is a communication paradigm in which information is conveyed through the release, propagation, and reception of molecules. Many envisioned healthcare applications of MC are expected to operate inside the human body, where the cardiovascular system (CVS) may serve as the physical propagation environment and molecular transport is governed by diffusion and blood flow. Although blood flow is inherently pulsatile, most analytical MC channel models assume steady flow. In this paper, we develop a time-variant analytical model for dispersive MC channels with pulsatile flow. We derive the straight-duct response as a Normal distribution with time-variant mean and variance, capturing the combined effects of diffusion and pulsatile flow, and extend it to closed-loop channels through a wrapped-Normal representation. The model is validated against three-dimensional (3D) particle-based simulations (PBSs) for synthetic and physiologically motivated velocity waveforms. We further derive a closed-form first-order approximation for the first-arrival peak time and introduce the nondimensional indicator $S_{\mathrm{Rx}}$ for assessing the applicability of the reduced one-dimensional (1D) model. Our results show that pulsatility has the strongest influence when molecular transport is predominantly advective and the temporal flow variations are not averaged out, whereas stronger diffusion and faster pulsations reduce its impact on the received signal. Moreover, a PBS-based parameter sweep supports $S_{\mathrm{Rx}} \ge 2$ as a practical criterion for the applicability of the proposed analytical model. Finally, relating the analytical assumptions to representative blood-vessel classes shows that model applicability depends not only on the transport conditions but also on physiological properties such as vessel rigidity, geometric uniformity, and blood rheology.

Problem

• Molecular communication
• Pulsatile flow
• Cardiovascular system
• Analytical channel modeling
• Dispersive transport

Innovation

• Molecular Communication
• Pulsatile Flow
• Time-Variant Analytical Model
• Wrapped-Normal Distribution
• Dimensionless Indicator