Visualization of electrical current flow with a new streamline technique: application in mono- and bidomain simulations of cardiac tissue

Mathematical modeling and computer-based simulation of electrical fields in the heart provide important insights into the cardiac electrophysiological behavior. Streamline based techniques are frequently applied for visualization of these electrical fields. In this work we present a new automated technique for placement of seed points of streamlines. The technique is based on a sequential optimization algorithm. In each step a set of random seed points is created. A single point of these is selected, which is optimal in such a manner that the distribution of density of streamlines fits best to the distribution of electrical current density. The iteration ends, when a pre-given number of streamlines was generated. Several examples illustrate the characteristic properties of the technique in electrical fields of small complexity. Additionally, results from a bidomain simulation of excitation propagation are visualized.