Electromechanical models of the ventricles

Abstract

Computational modeling has traditionally played an important role in dissecting the mechanisms for cardiac dysfunction. Ventricular electromechanical models, likely the most sophisticated virtual organs to date, integrate detailed information across the spatial scales of cardiac electrophysiology and mechanics and are capable of capturing the emergent behavior and the interaction between electrical activation and mechanical contraction of the heart. The goal of this review is to provide an overview of the latest advancements in multiscale electromechanical modeling of the ventricles. We first detail the general framework of multiscale ventricular electromechanical modeling and describe the state of the art in computational techniques and experimental validation approaches. The powerful utility of ventricular electromechanical models in providing a better understanding of cardiac function is then demonstrated by reviewing the latest insights obtained by these models, focusing primarily on the mechanisms by which mechanoelectric coupling contributes to ventricular arrythmogenesis, the relationship between electrical activation and mechanical contraction in the normal heart, and the mechanisms of mechanical dyssynchrony and resynchronization in the failing heart. Computational modeling of cardiac electromechanics will continue to complement basic science research and clinical cardiology and holds promise to become an important clinical tool aiding the diagnosis and treatment of cardiac disease.

Fibroblast proliferation alters cardiac excitation conduction and contraction: a computational study

“…However, previous mathematical models of cardiac strong/weak electromechanical couplings had not considered fibroblasts (Xia et al, 2005;Kerckhoffs et al, 2006;Trayanova et al, 2011). In this study, we explored the possible influence of fibroblasts on cardiac electrophysiology and mechanics by adding fibroblasts to a 2D electromechanical cardiac tissue model.…”

“…Many cardiac models, from cellular level models based on ion channels to tissue level models for ventricles, atria and the whole heart, have been proposed to study the electrophysiological and mechanical activities of the heart (Cherry and Fenton, 2011;Clayton et al, 2011;Trayanova, 2011;Trayanova et al, 2011;Carusi et al, 2012).…”

“…Owing to the close relationship between myocardium electrical and mechanical activities, cardiaccoupled electromechanical models were developed, in from one to three dimensions, for both normal and pathological situations (Usyk and McCulloch, 2003a;2003b;Nash and Panfilov, 2004;Nickerson et al, 2005;Niederer and Smith, 2008;Kerckhoffs et al, 2010;Niederer et al, 2011;Trayanova, 2011;Trayanova et al, 2011;Kuijpers et al, 2012). These coupled models fall mainly into two categories, namely, weak and strong coupling models (Kerckhoffs et al, 2006).…”

Computer Modelling for Better Diagnosis and Therapy of Patients by Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy

“…44 Historically, large-scale models were aimed at either electrophysiology or mechanics. As a consequence, most combined models are weakly coupled, i.e.…”

Fully-Coupled Electromechanical Simulations of the LV Dog Anatomy Using HPC: Model Testing and Verification

“…patch clamp) that allowed to estimate some parameters. More recently some pioneering modelling work aimed at using patient-specific heart geometries derived from imaging and estimated some parameters comparing clinical measurements with electromechanical simulations [1][2][3]. Nevertheless, clinical measurements from humans are often incomplete and sparse, then not quite appropriate for exhaustive validation and verification of the electromechanical solvers.…”