Systems Dynamics or Agent-Based Modelling for Immune Simulation?

TL;DR

This paper compares System Dynamics and Agent-Based Simulation approaches for immune system modeling, developing guidelines for converting models between them and analyzing differences in their results.

Contribution

It introduces a framework with guidelines for converting between SDS and ABS models in immune simulation, addressing a gap in methodological guidance.

Findings

Significant differences observed between SDS and ABS simulation results.

Conversion guidelines enable model transformation between approaches.

Differences persist across spatial and non-spatial scenarios.

Abstract

In immune system simulation there are two competing simulation approaches: System Dynamics Simulation (SDS) and Agent-Based Simulation (ABS). In the literature there is little guidance on how to choose the best approach for a specific immune problem. Our overall research aim is to develop a framework that helps researchers with this choice. In this paper we investigate if it is possible to easily convert simulation models between approaches. With no explicit guidelines available from the literature we develop and test our own set of guidelines for converting SDS models into ABS models in a non-spacial scenario. We also define guidelines to convert ABS into SDS considering a non-spatial and a spatial scenario. After running some experiments with the developed models we found that in all cases there are significant differences between the results produced by the different simulation methods.