Elevated intraocular pressure is the primary risk factor for glaucoma, yet vascular health and ocular hemodynamics have also been established as important risk factors for the disease. The precise physiological mechanisms and processes by which flow impairment and reduced tissue oxygenation relate to retinal ganglion cell death are not fully known. Mathematical modeling has emerged as a useful tool to help decipher the role of hemodynamic alterations in glaucoma. Several previous models of the retinal microvasculature and tissue have investigated the individual impact of spatial heterogeneity, flow regulation, and oxygen transport on the system. This study combines all three of these components into a heterogeneous mathematical model of retinal arterioles that includes oxygen transport and acute flow regulation in response to changes in pressure, shear stress, and oxygen demand. The metabolic signal (${\mathit{S}}_i$) is implemented as a wall-derived signal that reflects the oxygen deficit along the network, and three cases of conduction are considered: no conduction, a constant signal, and a flow-weighted signal. The model shows that the heterogeneity of the downstream signal serves to regulate flow better than a constant conducted response. In fact, the increases in average tissue PO₂ due to a flow-weighted signal are often more significant than if the entire level of signal is increased. Such theoretical work supports the importance of the non-uniform structure of the retinal vasculature when assessing the capability and/or dysfunction of blood flow regulation in the retinal microcirculation.

眼内压升高是青光眼的主要危险因素，但血管健康和眼部血液动力学也已被确定为该疾病的重要危险因素。流量障碍和组织氧合减少与视网膜神经节细胞死亡相关的精确生理机制和过程尚不完全清楚。数学建模已成为帮助破译血流动力学改变在青光眼中的作用的有用工具。几个先前的视网膜微血管系统和组织模型研究了空间异质性、流量调节和氧气输送对系统的个体影响。这项研究将所有这三个组成部分结合到视网膜小动脉的异质数学模型中，该模型包括氧气运输和响应压力变化的急性流量调节，剪切应力和需氧量。代谢信号（${\mathit{秒}}_{\mathrm{一世}}$) 被实现为反映沿网络的氧气不足的墙衍生信号，并考虑了三种传导情况：无传导、恒定信号和流量加权信号。该模型表明，下游信号的异质性比恒定传导响应更好地调节流量。事实上，由于流量加权信号引起的平均组织 PO ₂的增加通常比整个信号水平增加时更显着。在评估视网膜微循环中血流调节的能力和/或功能障碍时，这种理论工作支持了视网膜脉管系统非均匀结构的重要性。