A Cellular Automata Model of the Heart and Its Coupling with a Qualitative Model

An Interactive 3D Anisotropic Cellular Automata Model of the Heart

“…Events such as concealed conduction and the Wenckebachtype rhythmic disorders are based on such phenomenon as state-dependent conduction. The quantitative aspects of the adaptive properties are similar to those given in (30,31). To summarize, the specialized conduction network topography, myocardial fiber orientation, propagation speed, repolarization durations, conductivity ratios, and adaptive properties were adjusted to fit reported experimental data such that the simulated isochrones during depolarization agreed with the isochrone maps obtained by Durrer et al (10) (Fig.…”

“…The rule-based CA approach offers an alternative for modeling propagation across patches of larger dimensions. CA models can mimic electrophysiologic processes at discrete time, space, and state simulations (4,20,23,25,31,41). The individual cells' attributes and time-varying ionic currents are ''chunked'' into more global events characterizing tissue regions or elements in terms of states and state durations.…”

“…In previous papers we described the CARDIOLAB framework, in which both aspects are addressed, in the qualitative and quantitative sense (28)(29)(30)(31)(32). The framework includes a 21-element qualitative model of the heart (29,30), and a 25,000-element 2D cellular automata (CA) model (31). Qualitative models have expressive power since they represent cognitive descriptions of dynamic events (30,39).…”

“…Computational frameworks, capable of reasoning about the concepts underlying the events, should contribute to the modeling process (32). CA models, also referred to as logical state models (25,41), mimic physical laws by a series of simple rules that are easy to compute (4,19,25,31,41). They can offer a good compromise between computational complexity and realism.…”

“…They can offer a good compromise between computational complexity and realism. For instance, reentrant circuits in atrial and ventricular flutter and fibrillation have been simulated by the CA approach (4,25,31,35,41). In this paper, we describe a component of the CARDIOLAB framework aimed at studying reentry in the specialized conduction system, in the myocardium, around large vessels, and via accessory pathways.…”