Lymphangion Pump: The Lymphatic System's Own Peristaltic Engine

Lymph does not move because the heart pushes it — it moves because a chain of muscular segments called lymphangions, each sealed off by one-way valves, contract rhythmically in a stretch-triggered traveling wave. This simulator models that intrinsic lymphatic pump directly: a series of compliant chambers with elastic and active (contractile) pressure terms, valve-gated flow between them, and a myogenic stretch-frequency coupling so segments that fill faster also contract faster. Turn down valve competence to see reflux and upstream fluid backup — the same mechanism behind valvular lymphedema — or raise the downstream pressure to see the pump strain against a bigger afterload.