This tutorial is automatically generated from the file cell_based/test/tutorial/TestCreatingAndUsingANewCellPopulationBoundaryConditionTutorial.hpp at revision 196f6e705993/git_repo. Note that the code is given in full at the bottom of the page.

An example showing how to create and use a new cell population boundary condition

Introduction

In this tutorial we show how to create a new cell population boundary condition class to specify a fixed domain within which cells are constrained to lie, and how to use this in a cell-based simulation.

1. Including header files

As in previous cell-based Chaste tutorials, we begin by including the necessary header files.

#include <cxxtest/TestSuite.h>
#include "CheckpointArchiveTypes.hpp"
#include "AbstractCellBasedTestSuite.hpp"

The next header defines a base class for cell population boundary conditions, from which the new class will inherit.

#include "AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition.hpp"

The remaining header files define classes that will be used in the cell-based simulation test. You will have encountered some these files already in previous cell-based Chaste tutorials.

#include "OffLatticeSimulation.hpp"
#include "HoneycombMeshGenerator.hpp"
#include "HoneycombVertexMeshGenerator.hpp"
#include "VertexBasedCellPopulation.hpp"
#include "CellsGenerator.hpp"
#include "FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel.hpp"
#include "GeneralisedLinearSpringForce.hpp"
#include "SmartPointers.hpp"
#include "FakePetscSetup.hpp"

Defining the cell population boundary condition class

As an example, let us consider a boundary condition for a two-dimensional cell-based simulation, in which all cells are constrained to lie within the domain given in Cartesian coordinates by 0 <= y <= 5. To implement this we define a cell population boundary condition class, MyBoundaryCondition, which inherits from AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition and overrides the methods ImposeBoundaryCondition(), VerifyBoundaryCondition() and OutputCellPopulationBoundaryConditionParameters().

class MyBoundaryCondition : public AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>
{
private:

    friend class boost::serialization::access;
    template<class Archive>
    void serialize(Archive & archive, const unsigned int version)
    {
        archive & boost::serialization::base_object<AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2> >(*this);
    }

public:

The first public method is a default constructor, which calls the base constructor. There is a single input argument, a pointer to a cell population.

    MyBoundaryCondition(AbstractCellPopulation<2>* pCellPopulation)
        : AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>(pCellPopulation)
    {
    }

The second public method overrides ImposeBoundaryCondition(). This method is called during the Solve() method in OffLatticeSimulation at the end of each timestep, just after the position of each node in the cell population has been updated according to its equation of motion. The method iterates over all cells in the population, and moves any cell whose centre has y coordinate less than 0 or greater than 5 back into the domain.

Implicit in this method is the assumption that, when a node hits the boundary of the domain, it does so inelastically. This means, for example, that a node hitting the boundary at y=0 has its location moved to y=0. A more physically realistic modelling assumption might be to assume that momentum is conserved in the collision.

Also implicit in this method is the assumption that we are using a cell-centre based population. If we were using a vertex-based population then each node would correspond not to a cell centre but to a vertex.

    void ImposeBoundaryCondition(const std::map<Node<2>*, c_vector<double, 2> >& rOldLocations)
    {
        for (AbstractCellPopulation<2>::Iterator cell_iter = this->mpCellPopulation->Begin();
             cell_iter != this->mpCellPopulation->End();
             ++cell_iter)
        {
            unsigned node_index = this->mpCellPopulation->GetLocationIndexUsingCell(*cell_iter);
            Node<2>* p_node = this->mpCellPopulation->GetNode(node_index);
            double y_coordinate = p_node->rGetLocation()[1];

            if (y_coordinate > 5.0)
            {
                p_node->rGetModifiableLocation()[1] = 5.0;
            }
            else if (y_coordinate < 0.0)
            {
                p_node->rGetModifiableLocation()[1] = 0.0;
            }
        }
    }

The third public method overrides VerifyBoundaryCondition(). This method is called during the Solve() method in OffLatticeSimulation at the end of each timestep, just after ImposeBoundaryCondition(), and checks that each cell in the population now satisfies MyBoundaryCondition.

    bool VerifyBoundaryCondition()
    {
        bool condition_satisfied = true;

        for (AbstractCellPopulation<2>::Iterator cell_iter = this->mpCellPopulation->Begin();
             cell_iter != this->mpCellPopulation->End();
             ++cell_iter)
        {
            c_vector<double, 2> cell_location = this->mpCellPopulation->GetLocationOfCellCentre(*cell_iter);
            double y_coordinate = cell_location(1);

            if ((y_coordinate < 0.0) || (y_coordinate > 5.0))
            {
                condition_satisfied = false;
                break;
            }
        }
        return condition_satisfied;
    }

Just as we encountered in UserTutorials/CreatingAndUsingANewCellKiller, here we must override a method that outputs any member variables to a specified results file rParamsFile. In our case, there are no parameters, so we simply call the method on the base class. Nonetheless, we still need to override the method, since it is pure virtual in the base class.

    void OutputCellPopulationBoundaryConditionParameters(out_stream& rParamsFile)
    {
        AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>::OutputCellPopulationBoundaryConditionParameters(rParamsFile);
    }
};

As mentioned in previous cell-based Chaste tutorials, we need to include the next block of code to be able to archive the cell population boundary condition object in a cell-based simulation, and to obtain a unique identifier for our new boundary condition for writing results to file.

#include "SerializationExportWrapper.hpp"
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MyBoundaryCondition)
#include "SerializationExportWrapperForCpp.hpp"
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MyBoundaryCondition)

namespace boost
{
    namespace serialization
    {
        template<class Archive>
        inline void save_construct_data(
            Archive & ar, const MyBoundaryCondition * t, const unsigned int file_version)
        {
            const AbstractCellPopulation<2>* const p_cell_population = t->GetCellPopulation();
            ar << p_cell_population;
        }

        template<class Archive>
        inline void load_construct_data(
            Archive & ar, MyBoundaryCondition * t, const unsigned int file_version)
        {
            AbstractCellPopulation<2>* p_cell_population;
            ar >> p_cell_population;

            ::new(t)MyBoundaryCondition(p_cell_population);
        }
    }
}

This completes the code for MyBoundaryCondition. Note that usually this code would be separated out into a separate declaration in a .hpp file and definition in a .cpp file.

The Tests

We now define the test class, which inherits from AbstractCellBasedTestSuite.

class TestCreatingAndUsingANewCellPopulationBoundaryConditionTutorial : public AbstractCellBasedTestSuite
{
public:

Testing the cell population boundary condition

We now test that our new cell population boundary condition is implemented correctly.

    void TestMyBoundaryCondition()
    {

We first create a MeshBasedCellPopulation using the helper classes HoneycombMeshGenerator and CellsGenerator, as in previous cell-based Chaste tutorials.

        HoneycombMeshGenerator generator(7, 7);
        MutableMesh<2,2>* p_mesh = generator.GetMesh();

        std::vector<CellPtr> cells;
        CellsGenerator<FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel, 2> cells_generator;
        cells_generator.GenerateBasic(cells, p_mesh->GetNumNodes());

        MeshBasedCellPopulation<2> cell_population(*p_mesh, cells);

We now use the cell population to construct a cell population boundary condition object.

        MyBoundaryCondition bc(&cell_population);

We start by verifying that some cells do not satisfy the boundary condition:

        bool population_satisfies_bc = bc.VerifyBoundaryCondition();
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(population_satisfies_bc, false);

        std::map<Node<2>*, c_vector<double, 2> > old_node_locations;
        for (AbstractMesh<2,2>::NodeIterator node_iter = p_mesh->GetNodeIteratorBegin();
                node_iter != p_mesh->GetNodeIteratorEnd();
                ++node_iter)
        {
            old_node_locations[&(*node_iter)] = node_iter->rGetLocation();
        }

To test that we have implemented the cell population boundary condition correctly, we call the overridden method ImposeBoundaryCondition()...

        bc.ImposeBoundaryCondition(old_node_locations);

... and check that the cell population does indeed now satisfy the boundary condition:

        population_satisfies_bc = bc.VerifyBoundaryCondition();
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(population_satisfies_bc, true);

The last block of code provides an archiving test for the cell population boundary condition, in a similar way to previous cell-based Chaste tutorials:

        OutputFileHandler handler("archive", false);
        std::string archive_filename = handler.GetOutputDirectoryFullPath() + "my_bc.arch";
        {
            std::ofstream ofs(archive_filename.c_str());
            boost::archive::text_oarchive output_arch(ofs);

            AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>* const p_bc = new MyBoundaryCondition(NULL);
            output_arch << p_bc;
            delete p_bc;
        }
        {
            std::ifstream ifs(archive_filename.c_str(), std::ios::binary);
            boost::archive::text_iarchive input_arch(ifs);

            AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>* p_bc;
            input_arch >> p_bc;

            delete p_bc;
        }
    }

Using the boundary condition in a cell-based simulation

We now provide a test demonstrating how MyBoundaryCondition can be used in a cell-based simulation.

    void TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMyBoundaryCondition()
    {

Once again we create a MeshBasedCellPopulation.

        HoneycombMeshGenerator generator(7, 7, 0);
        MutableMesh<2,2>* p_mesh = generator.GetMesh();

        std::vector<CellPtr> cells;
        CellsGenerator<FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel, 2> cells_generator;
        cells_generator.GenerateBasic(cells, p_mesh->GetNumNodes());

        MeshBasedCellPopulation<2> cell_population(*p_mesh, cells);

We use the cell population to construct a cell population boundary condition object.

        MAKE_PTR_ARGS(MyBoundaryCondition, p_bc, (&cell_population));

We then pass in the cell population into an OffLatticeSimulation, and set the output directory, output multiple, and end time.

        OffLatticeSimulation<2> simulator(cell_population);
        simulator.SetOutputDirectory("TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMyBoundaryCondition");
        simulator.SetSamplingTimestepMultiple(12);
        simulator.SetEndTime(1.0);

We create a force law and pass it to the OffLatticeSimulation.

        MAKE_PTR(GeneralisedLinearSpringForce<2>, p_linear_force);
        p_linear_force->SetCutOffLength(3);
        simulator.AddForce(p_linear_force);

We now pass the cell population boundary condition into the cell-based simulation.

        simulator.AddCellPopulationBoundaryCondition(p_bc);

To run the simulation, we call Solve().

        simulator.Solve();
    }

When you visualize the results with

java Visualize2dCentreCells /tmp/$USER/testoutput/TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMyBoundaryCondition/results_from_time_0

you should see that cells are restricted to the domain 0 <= y <= 5.

};

Code

The full code is given below

File name `TestCreatingAndUsingANewCellPopulationBoundaryConditionTutorial.hpp`

#include <cxxtest/TestSuite.h>
#include "CheckpointArchiveTypes.hpp"
#include "AbstractCellBasedTestSuite.hpp"

#include "AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition.hpp"
#include "OffLatticeSimulation.hpp"
#include "HoneycombMeshGenerator.hpp"
#include "HoneycombVertexMeshGenerator.hpp"
#include "VertexBasedCellPopulation.hpp"
#include "CellsGenerator.hpp"
#include "FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel.hpp"
#include "GeneralisedLinearSpringForce.hpp"
#include "SmartPointers.hpp"
#include "FakePetscSetup.hpp"

class MyBoundaryCondition : public AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>
{
private:

    friend class boost::serialization::access;
    template<class Archive>
    void serialize(Archive & archive, const unsigned int version)
    {
        archive & boost::serialization::base_object<AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2> >(*this);
    }

public:
    MyBoundaryCondition(AbstractCellPopulation<2>* pCellPopulation)
        : AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>(pCellPopulation)
    {
    }

    void ImposeBoundaryCondition(const std::map<Node<2>*, c_vector<double, 2> >& rOldLocations)
    {
        for (AbstractCellPopulation<2>::Iterator cell_iter = this->mpCellPopulation->Begin();
             cell_iter != this->mpCellPopulation->End();
             ++cell_iter)
        {
            unsigned node_index = this->mpCellPopulation->GetLocationIndexUsingCell(*cell_iter);
            Node<2>* p_node = this->mpCellPopulation->GetNode(node_index);
            double y_coordinate = p_node->rGetLocation()[1];

            if (y_coordinate > 5.0)
            {
                p_node->rGetModifiableLocation()[1] = 5.0;
            }
            else if (y_coordinate < 0.0)
            {
                p_node->rGetModifiableLocation()[1] = 0.0;
            }
        }
    }

    bool VerifyBoundaryCondition()
    {
        bool condition_satisfied = true;

        for (AbstractCellPopulation<2>::Iterator cell_iter = this->mpCellPopulation->Begin();
             cell_iter != this->mpCellPopulation->End();
             ++cell_iter)
        {
            c_vector<double, 2> cell_location = this->mpCellPopulation->GetLocationOfCellCentre(*cell_iter);
            double y_coordinate = cell_location(1);

            if ((y_coordinate < 0.0) || (y_coordinate > 5.0))
            {
                condition_satisfied = false;
                break;
            }
        }
        return condition_satisfied;
    }

    void OutputCellPopulationBoundaryConditionParameters(out_stream& rParamsFile)
    {
        AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>::OutputCellPopulationBoundaryConditionParameters(rParamsFile);
    }
};

#include "SerializationExportWrapper.hpp"
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MyBoundaryCondition)
#include "SerializationExportWrapperForCpp.hpp"
CHASTE_CLASS_EXPORT(MyBoundaryCondition)

namespace boost
{
    namespace serialization
    {
        template<class Archive>
        inline void save_construct_data(
            Archive & ar, const MyBoundaryCondition * t, const unsigned int file_version)
        {
            const AbstractCellPopulation<2>* const p_cell_population = t->GetCellPopulation();
            ar << p_cell_population;
        }

        template<class Archive>
        inline void load_construct_data(
            Archive & ar, MyBoundaryCondition * t, const unsigned int file_version)
        {
            AbstractCellPopulation<2>* p_cell_population;
            ar >> p_cell_population;

            ::new(t)MyBoundaryCondition(p_cell_population);
        }
    }
}

class TestCreatingAndUsingANewCellPopulationBoundaryConditionTutorial : public AbstractCellBasedTestSuite
{
public:

    void TestMyBoundaryCondition()
    {
        HoneycombMeshGenerator generator(7, 7);
        MutableMesh<2,2>* p_mesh = generator.GetMesh();

        std::vector<CellPtr> cells;
        CellsGenerator<FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel, 2> cells_generator;
        cells_generator.GenerateBasic(cells, p_mesh->GetNumNodes());

        MeshBasedCellPopulation<2> cell_population(*p_mesh, cells);

        MyBoundaryCondition bc(&cell_population);

        bool population_satisfies_bc = bc.VerifyBoundaryCondition();
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(population_satisfies_bc, false);

        std::map<Node<2>*, c_vector<double, 2> > old_node_locations;
        for (AbstractMesh<2,2>::NodeIterator node_iter = p_mesh->GetNodeIteratorBegin();
                node_iter != p_mesh->GetNodeIteratorEnd();
                ++node_iter)
        {
            old_node_locations[&(*node_iter)] = node_iter->rGetLocation();
        }

        bc.ImposeBoundaryCondition(old_node_locations);

        population_satisfies_bc = bc.VerifyBoundaryCondition();
        TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(population_satisfies_bc, true);

        OutputFileHandler handler("archive", false);
        std::string archive_filename = handler.GetOutputDirectoryFullPath() + "my_bc.arch";
        {
            std::ofstream ofs(archive_filename.c_str());
            boost::archive::text_oarchive output_arch(ofs);

            AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>* const p_bc = new MyBoundaryCondition(NULL);
            output_arch << p_bc;
            delete p_bc;
        }
        {
            std::ifstream ifs(archive_filename.c_str(), std::ios::binary);
            boost::archive::text_iarchive input_arch(ifs);

            AbstractCellPopulationBoundaryCondition<2>* p_bc;
            input_arch >> p_bc;

            delete p_bc;
        }
    }

    void TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMyBoundaryCondition()
    {
        HoneycombMeshGenerator generator(7, 7, 0);
        MutableMesh<2,2>* p_mesh = generator.GetMesh();

        std::vector<CellPtr> cells;
        CellsGenerator<FixedG1GenerationalCellCycleModel, 2> cells_generator;
        cells_generator.GenerateBasic(cells, p_mesh->GetNumNodes());

        MeshBasedCellPopulation<2> cell_population(*p_mesh, cells);

        MAKE_PTR_ARGS(MyBoundaryCondition, p_bc, (&cell_population));

        OffLatticeSimulation<2> simulator(cell_population);
        simulator.SetOutputDirectory("TestOffLatticeSimulationWithMyBoundaryCondition");
        simulator.SetSamplingTimestepMultiple(12);
        simulator.SetEndTime(1.0);

        MAKE_PTR(GeneralisedLinearSpringForce<2>, p_linear_force);
        p_linear_force->SetCutOffLength(3);
        simulator.AddForce(p_linear_force);

        simulator.AddCellPopulationBoundaryCondition(p_bc);

        simulator.Solve();
    }
};