EFFECTS OF TORSO IMPEDANCE ON IN SILICO VOLTAGE MAPPING OF CARDIAC DIPOLES OF ROTORS

Self-sustained pivoting patterns of cardiac impulses are termed rotors and are proposed as drivers of fibrillation. However, the impact of the impedance properties of the torso on mapping the rotors and their filaments remains unclear. This study aims to conceptually demonstrate how those impedance properties affect the distribution of voltages resulting from rotors in simulations on a torso model segmented from a chest axial CT. Torso compartments were assigned conductivity and capacitance values, and two counter-rotating myocardial rotors were modeled as two dipoles with counter-phase cosine potential waves. Quasi-electrostatic and impedance formalisms were solved using finite element methods to simulate torso voltage and phase distributions. Results revealed that rotor filaments did not reach the surface in the quasi-electrostatic simulations, with the impedance formalism, rotor filaments appeared on the body surface in both potential and phase maps. These computational simulations demonstrate that impedance properties can be relevant for detecting cardiac rotors.