A multi-physics and multi-scale lumped parameter model of cardiac contraction of the left ventricle: A conceptual model from the protein to the organ scale

Abstract

In cardiovascular computational physiology the importance of understanding cardiac contraction as a multi-scale process is of paramount importance to understand causality across different scales. Within this study, a multi-scale and multi-physics model of the left ventricle that connects the process of cardiac excitation and contraction from the protein to the organ level is presented in a novel way. The model presented here includes the functional description of a cardiomyocyte (cellular scale), which explains the dynamic behaviour of the calcium concentration within the cell whilst an action potential develops. The cell domain is coupled to a domain that determines the kinetics of the sliding filament mechanism (protein level), which is at the basis of cardiac contraction. These processes are then linked to the generation of muscular force and from there to the generation of pressure inside the ventricle. This multi-scale model presents a coherent and unified way to describe cardiac contraction from the protein to the organ level.