Identification of a chemotactic sensitivity in a coupled system

Math Med Biol. 2008 Sep;25(3):215-32. doi: 10.1093/imammb/dqn015. Epub 2008 Jul 15.

Abstract

Chemotaxis is the process by which cells behave in a way that follows the chemical gradient. Applications to bacteria growth, tissue inflammation and vascular tumours provide a focus on optimization strategies. Experiments can characterize the form of possible chemotactic sensitivities. This paper addresses the recovery of the chemotactic sensitivity from these experiments while allowing for non-linear dependence of the parameter on the state variables. The existence of solutions to the forward problem is analysed. The identification of a chemotactic parameter is determined by inverse problem techniques. Tikhonov regularization is investigated and appropriate convergence results are obtained. Numerical results of concentration-dependent chemotactic terms are explored.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Bacterial Physiological Phenomena
  • Chemotaxis / physiology*
  • Mathematics*
  • Models, Biological*
  • Nonlinear Dynamics