Meshfree implementation of individualized active cardiac dynamics.

Area of Science:

• Computational cardiology
• Biomedical engineering
• Medical image analysis

Background:

• Cardiac physiome models are valuable for cardiac simulation and medical image analysis.
• Individualized analysis requires subject-specific cardiac geometries from structural images.
• Finite element methods (FEM) present implementation challenges (inaccuracy vs. labor-intensiveness) for myocardium discretization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a 3D implementation of the cardiac physiome model using meshfree methods for medical image analysis.
• To compare the performance of meshfree methods against finite element methods.
• To assess the adaptability and accuracy of the meshfree approach for individualized cardiac analysis.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a meshfree platform for element-free approximations in computational cardiology.
• Excluded complicated volume meshing procedures and the need for re-meshing during deformation.
• Employed polynomial bases for spatial approximation, not limited by element structure.

Main Results:

• Meshfree methods demonstrated greater adaptability to diverse cardiac geometries compared to FEM.
• The meshfree platform simplifies implementation while maintaining numerical accuracy.
• Simulations on a cubical object and a human heart MRI geometry validated the model's behavior and physiological plausibility.

Conclusions:

• The meshfree cardiac physiome model is beneficial for individualized cardiac analysis and medical image applications.
• Meshfree methods provide a more adaptive and efficient alternative to FEM for cardiac simulations.
• The presented implementation shows promise for accurate and personalized cardiac modeling.