A planar slab bidomain model for cardiac tissue.

Area of Science:

• Biophysics
• Computational Biology
• Cardiac Electrophysiology

Background:

• Accurate modeling of cardiac tissue electrophysiology is essential for understanding heart function and disease.
• Existing models often simplify tissue geometry, potentially impacting simulation accuracy.
• Investigating the influence of geometric assumptions on electrical potential propagation is critical.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and analyze a fully three-dimensional model of cardiac free wall geometry.
• To present governing equations for interstitial and extracellular potentials in a planar cardiac tissue model.
• To compare the behavior of planar and cylindrical bidomain models.

Main Methods:

• Formulation of governing equations for interstitial and extracellular potentials.
• Modeling of a planar slab of cardiac tissue with parallel fibers.
• Simulation of uniform plane-wave activation.
• Comparison with a cylindrical bidomain model of equivalent thickness.

Main Results:

• The study presents the governing equations for a planar bidomain model of cardiac tissue.
• Potentials in the planar bidomain model were analyzed as a function of depth.
• Comparison revealed that planar bidomain models approach core-conductor behavior more rapidly than cylindrical models.

Conclusions:

• Planar geometry provides a computationally efficient approximation for modeling cardiac electrical activity.
• The rate of approach to core-conductor behavior is geometry-dependent.
• Findings inform the selection of appropriate geometric models for cardiac electrophysiology simulations.