Modeling impulse propagation and extracellular potential distributions in anisotropic cardiac tissue using a finite volume element discretization

Abstract

This paper describes a physically-based spatial discretization scheme for the bidomain equations used for modeling wavefront conduction in the heart. The discretization method uses unstructured finite volumes, or the boxes, that are formed as a secondary geometric structure from an underlying hexaderal mesh. The method enforces local flux conservation and thus is ideally suited for dealing with the spatially varying material properties and complex geometries that characterize realistic cardiac muscle. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the application of the method to large scale simulation of wavefront propagation in the heart.