Development of finite element models for studying the electrical excitation of myocardium

The propagation of the electrical excitation wave in the isotropic and anisotropic finite element models of the myocardium is studied. The geometrical image of the heart is constructed on the basis of magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) data by the region growing method. A filtering algorithm is proposed for elimination of excess details. The propagation of the myocardium excitation impulse is described in the framework of the monodomain model of conductivity. The Aliev–Panfilov and Beeler–Reuter equations are used to relate the transmembrane current to transmembrane potential. The model equations are solved by the splitting method. The influence of the degree of approximation on the performance of the finite element model is investigated. The interaction between the additional excitation source and the propagating excitation wave is considered. The proposed model allowed us to trace the propagation of the excitation impulse through the curvilinear isotropic media and in the 3D image of the heart obtained on the basis of MRT data.