A high order coupled finite element/boundary element torso model

The authors report here on the development of an accurate representation of a human torso using a combination of volume and surface elements, which will be used in conjunction with a coupled finite element/boundary element procedure in the solution of forward and inverse problems of electrocardiology. The aim here has been to develop an accurate representation of a torso with the use of high order elements, and to use volume elements only where necessary. Accurate descriptions of the surfaces of the lungs, heart, skeletal muscle and fat layers were all obtained by fitting relatively coarse meshes of cubic Hermite elements to slices of data obtained from MRI images. These two-dimensional fitted slices were then used as an initial three-dimensional mesh, which was then fitted to the entire MRI data set