Executable Simulation Model of the Liver

Abstract

To address the issue of reproducibility in computational modeling we developed the concept of an executable simulation model (EXSIMO). An EXSIMO combines model, data and code with the execution environment to run the computational analysis in an automated manner using tools from software engineering. Key components are i) models, data and code for the computational analysis; ii) tests for models, data and code; and iii) an automation layer to run tests and execute the analysis. An EXSIMO combines version control, model, data, units, annotations, analysis, reports, execution environment, testing, continuous integration and release. We applied the concept to perform a replication study of a computational analysis of hepatic glucose metabolism in the liver. The corresponding EXSIMO is available from https://github.com/matthiaskoenig/exsimo.