A 3D-shell model of left atrial electromechanics

The thin-walled nature of the atrial myocardium can lead to artificial stiffening when full 3D electromechanical models are discretized using standard finite elements. In this work, we propose an electromechanical model of the left atrium based on a 3D-shell formulation that overcomes these limitations. The model incorporates both passive and active components of atrial tissue mechanics, while atrioventricular interaction is described by the coupling with a 0D electromechanical model of the left ventricle. The proposed approach is assessed under physiological and pathological conditions and systematically compared with the standard full 3D formulation. The results demonstrate the superior robustness and computational efficiency of the proposed 3D-shell electromechanical model.