Towards computational modelling of the human foetal electrocardiogram: normal sinus rhythm and congenital heart block

Abstract

The fECG can be interpreted mechanistically and quantitatively by using a simple computational model for propagation. After further validation, by clinical recordings of the fECG and the electrophysiological experiments on foetal cardiac cells and tissues, the model may be used to predict the effects of maternally administered pharmaceuticals on the fECG.

Electrophysiological Simulation Of Maternal-Fetal ECG on a 3D Maternal Torso Model

“…Ionic current properties of the maternal heart were modelled using the Ten Tusscher model of human ventricular cardiomyocytes [17] . For the fetal heart, a modified version of [17] adapted to match fetal ventricular electrophysiology, was used [18]. Tissue propagation was modelled with the pseudo-bidomain approach [19] as implemented in openCARP [20] with a time step of 10 µs.…”

Transcriptomic Approaches to Modelling Long Term Changes in Human Cardiac Electrophysiology

“…The ORd model is parameterized for the healthy adult, and there are no well-founded, experimentally based models of human fetal myocardial cells whose parameters could be scaled by the transcriptomic data. In [21,22] conductance parameters of an adult endocardial myocyte model were scaled so their APD90 restitution curves reproduce 35 week gestational age fetal QT restitution curve. The transcriptomic data would give an increase in maximal rate of rise of action potential, and increase in its conduction velocity and duration, but quantitative values are speculative in the absence of fetal cell and tissue electrophysiological data.…”