Molecular Communication Theoretical Modeling and Analysis of SARS-CoV2 Transmission in Human Respiratory System

Abstract

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoronaVirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) caused the ongoing pandemic. This pandemic devastated the world by killing more than a million people, as of October 2020. It is imperative to understand the transmission dynamics of SARS-CoV2 so that novel and interdisciplinary prevention, diagnostic, and therapeutic techniques could be developed. In this work, we model and analyze the transmission of SARS-CoV2 through the human respiratory tract from a molecular communication perspective. We consider that virus diffusion occurs in the mucus layer so that the shape of the tract does not have a significant effect on the transmission. Hence, this model reduces the inherent complexity of the human respiratory system. We further provide the impulse response of SARS-CoV2-ACE2 receptor binding event to determine the proportion of the virus population reaching different regions of the respiratory tract. Our findings confirm the results in the experimental literature on higher mucus flow rate causing virus migration to the lower respiratory tract. These results are especially important to understand the effect of SARS-CoV2 on the different human populations at different ages who have different mucus flow rates and ACE2 receptor concentrations in the different regions of the respiratory tract.

Channel Clearance by Perfectly Absorbing Boundaries in Synaptic Molecular Communications

“…One method to alleviate the lack of data is to start with sources giving the exact numbers and then work our way through studies giving densities and comparative numbers, as done in [39]. Although this method accumulates errors in the literature, we still obtain some approximate numbers on the transport molecules.…”

“…In cases where BVPs are too hard to solve, Monte Carlo simulations are frequently used to approximate a solution [29,30]. However, when we use Monte Carlo simulations to model partially absorbing boundaries further complications arise, as the rate of absorption depends on the space step used in the system [31,32].…”

Mobile human ad hoc networks: A communication engineering viewpoint on interhuman airborne pathogen transmission

“…In addition, the effect of face masks on the infection probability is investigated in [11] . In [12] , [13] , MC is employed to model the transmission of pathogens through the human respiratory tract. In these recent studies with the MC perspective, the proposed models are for static humans.…”

Comparison of the Mobile and Fixed Nano/Micro-Scale Systems by Using Monte Carlo Simulation for Different Viscosity Values

“…A lot of studies have been carried out about the communication of nano-devices in recent years (Bi et al 2021;Koca et al 2021;Lin et al 2019;Rusinque and Brenner 2019). The transmitter (Tx) and receiver (Rx) parts are investigated to analyze transmitted and received molecules in a fluid media.…”

“…Different types of networks are required, depending on the type of object of interest, to collect data from devices and enable remote control. In order to analyze and discuss data and automate processes involving various physical objects, special software is required to process the data, depending on the needs and goals of those interested (Chouhan and Sharma 2020;Koca et al 2021;Schurwanz et al 2021).…”