DocumentCode :
1221139
Title :
The effect of torso impedance on epicardial and body surface potentials: a modeling study
Author :
Buist, Martin L. ; Pullan, Andrew J.
Author_Institution :
Bioeng. Inst., Univ. of Auckland, New Zealand
Volume :
50
Issue :
7
fYear :
2003
fDate :
7/1/2003 12:00:00 AM
Firstpage :
816
Lastpage :
824
Abstract :
Experimental results have been published that report marked changes in measured epicardial potentials when the conductivity of the material surrounding the heart is altered. These reports raise a question as to the validity of the traditional two step, equivalent cardiac source approach to modeling the forward problem of electrocardiology as the equivalent source calculation occurs in what is effectively an isolated cardiac region. In the physical situation the heart is surrounded by a torso that contains many different tissue types with different conductivities and is certainly not isolated. Here, a fully coupled model of the problem is employed where the electrical pathways are continuous from a cellular level through to the body surface. This model is used to investigate the effects that torso inhomogeneities have on epicardial and body surface potentials, including comparisons with a traditional two step approach. In particular, it is shown that adding lungs changes the epicardial potentials by 17%, which is consistent with the reported experimental results. In none of the tested situations did the equivalent source approach completely reproduce the fully coupled results, supporting the notion that a fully coupled approach is required to properly solve the forward problem of electrocardiology.
Keywords :
boundary-elements methods; electric impedance; electrocardiography; finite difference methods; finite element analysis; body surface potentials; cellular level; continuous electrical pathways; electrocardiology forward problem; epicardial potentials; equivalent cardiac source approach; modeling study; torso impedance; torso inhomogeneities; Biomedical engineering; Conducting materials; Conductivity measurement; Finite difference methods; Finite element methods; Heart; Lungs; Surface impedance; Testing; Torso; Abdomen; Action Potentials; Adipose Tissue; Back; Body Surface Potential Mapping; Computer Simulation; Electric Impedance; Electrocardiography; Finite Element Analysis; Heart; Lung; Models, Cardiovascular; Models, Neurological; Muscle, Skeletal; Pericardium; Sensitivity and Specificity; Thorax;
fLanguage :
English
Journal_Title :
Biomedical Engineering, IEEE Transactions on
Publisher :
ieee
ISSN :
0018-9294
Type :
jour
DOI :
10.1109/TBME.2003.813536
Filename :
1206490
Link To Document :
بازگشت