Aβ plaque deposit
Microglia (patrolling)
Microglia (engaged)
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Amyloid-β plaque burden in Alzheimer's disease is not a one-way accumulation — it is the visible result of a constant tug-of-war between Aβ deposition and active removal by microglia, the brain's resident phagocytes. This simulator renders that balance in 3D: a growing plaque of Aβ deposit units at the centre of a tissue volume, patrolled by microglia that chemotax toward the plaque, attach to its surface, and phagocytose material for as long as they stay engaged. A deposition-rate slider controls how fast new Aβ arrives, a TREM2-style efficiency slider controls how effectively each engaged microglion clears it (modelling the real effect of TREM2 loss-of-function variants on phagocytic capacity), and microglia count and sensing-range sliders control how much immune surveillance is available to respond. Live readouts track plaque size, how many microglia are currently engaged, the net growth rate dP/dt, and simulated elapsed time — so you can find the tipping point between a stalled and a runaway plaque.