Numerical simulation of electrocardiograms - Modeling of Physiological Flows - page 75

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Numerical simulation of electrocardiograms
Muriel Boulakia, Miguel A. Fernandez, Jean-Frederic Gerbeau, and
Nejib Zemzemi
Abstract. This chapter presents a concise overview of various mathematical and nu-
merical problems raised by the simulation of electrocardiograms (ECGs). A model
for the propagation of the electrical activation in the heart and in the torso is pro-
posed. Some of its mathematical properties are analyzed. This model is not aimed
at reproducing the complex phenomena taking place at the microscopic level. It has
been devised to produce realistic healthy ECGs, and some pathological ones, with
a reasonable level of complexity. Rather, it relies on various assumptions that are
carefully discussed through their impact on the ECGs. The coupling between the
heart and the torso is a critical numerical issue which is addressed. In particular, ef-
ficient coupling strategies based on explicit algorithms are presented and analyzed.
The chapter ends with some preliminary results of a reduced order model based on
the Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) method.
Muriel Boulakia
Universite Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6, UMR 7598, Laboratoire Jacques-Louis Lions, 75005 Paris,
France
e-mail: [e-mail]
Miguel A. Fernandez
INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt, 78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France
e-mail: [e-mail]
Jean-Frederic Gerbeau ( )
INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt, 78153 Le Chesnay Cedex, France
e-mail: [e-mail]
Nejib Zemzemi
INRIA Paris-Rocquencourt and Laboratoire de mathematiques d'Orsay, Universite Paris 11.
Current affiliation: University of Oxford, Computing laboratory, Oxford OX1 3QD, UK
e-mail: [e-mail]