An Interactive Qualitative Model in Cardiology

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

“…To the authors' knowledge, no single model tackles these four problems that, together, address both quantification and qualification. Indeed, in general, heart models adopt one of three representational schemes: (i) qualitative representations based on formalisms such as first-order logic (FOL) where processes are qualitatively described (6,23,27), (ii) CA models that mimic electrophysiologic processes as discrete time, space, and state simulations (3-5, 9, 17, 18, 20, 21), and (iii) networks of cells governed by the so-called Hodgkin-Huxley (H-H) type equations (14). The H-H type equations compute the electrodynamics of each cell in terms of nonlinear relationships between transmembrane currents and transmembrane potential (13,15,16,29).…”

“…5). Qualitative models operate into the symbolic realm by explicitly representing high level concepts (6,23,27). In qualitative process simulation predictions of global behavior can be inferred by rules such as ''if the AVN is in an absolute refractory state then it cannot be excited by an incoming impulse.''…”

“…In qualitative process simulation predictions of global behavior can be inferred by rules such as ''if the AVN is in an absolute refractory state then it cannot be excited by an incoming impulse.'' In CARDIOLAB's qualitative model, both the specialized conduction system and the myocardium are represented (27). There are 21 elements belonging to muscle or nodal tissue and the level of detail corresponds to the one usually adopted by clinicians when they explain arrhythmias.…”

“…Hence our effort has been directed toward creating a multiscale computational model of cardiac electrical activity with both quantitative and qualitative features. In this paper, we describe a 25,000-elements 2D CA model and show how it can be coupled with a qualitative model that has been previously reported (27). The resulting system combines the fine-grained description of CA models with the high-level interpretative role of the qualitative model.…”

“…In a previous paper (27) we described a qualitative model of the heart and discussed its role as a simulator and as a multilevel descriptive tool to study cardiac rhythmic disorders. The model is part of the CARDIOLAB framework which, ultimately, will constitute an intelligent computational environment for teaching, research, diagnosis, and monitoring (25)(26)(27)(28).…”