A simple 2D whole heart model for simulating Electrocardiograms

A simplified 2D whole heart model (2DWHM) which simulates the Electrocardiogram (ECG) accurately is presented. Although extremely detailed whole heart 3D models are available, they are computationally expensive. On the other hand most of the 2D cardiac models are homogeneous models aiming at modeling activation propagation in a small patch of cardiac tissue; they are not meant to be whole heart models. A two-dimensional heterogeneous “whole heart” model consisting of an array of specialized cardiac cells, with appropriate anatomical distribution, interacting via gap junction conductance (GJC) is envisioned to be a midway solution to this problem. The proposed 2D whole heart model includes various key components of the electrical conduction system of the heart including the SA (Sino atrial) node, fast conducting inter-atrial pathways, slow conducting AV (atrio-ventricular) node, Bundle of His, Purkinje network, and atrial and ventricular myocardial cells. Atrial and ventricular myocardial cells are modeled by Aliev-Panfilov (AP) two-variable model proposed for cardiac excitation. The auto rhythmic cells are modeled by Fitzhugh-Nagumo (FN) model operated in the oscillatory mode. In addition to normal ECG, the model also reproduces AV conduction blocks.