3-D ventricular myocardial electrical excitation: a minimal orthogonal pathways model

This study is part of our attempt to develop a fast-responding interactive computer simulator of the left ventricle (LV) which describes the spatial and temporal myocardial characteristics and the global performance of the LV, accounting for the continuous interactions between the electrical activation sequence, fiber mechanics, blood perfusion and transmural metabolism and oxygen demand. Here, the activation propagation front throughout the healthy 3-dimensional LV myocardium is simulated in a macro global level by utilizing an analytical model based on the principle of the propagation of the electric activation signal along minimal pathways in an elliptically assumed LV geometry. The Purkinje network dominates the propagation at the endocardial layer while three orthogonal directions of propagation are assumed within the myocardium. The shortest path consists of the geodetic line at the endocardial layer and the normal that connects the endocardium with the point considered. The generated three-dimensional propagation front maps are in fair agreement with reported experimental data. The study thus presents a new approach that permits a quick reconstruction of the 3-D isochrons in a relatively simple but useful model of the normal heart.