Simulation study of a magnetocardiogram based on a virtual heart model: effect of a cardiac equivalent source and a volume conductor**Project supported by the State Key Development Program for Basic Research of China (Grant Nos. 2007CB512100 and 2006CB601007), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 10674006), the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No.

Abstract

In this paper, we present a magnetocardiogram (MCG) simulation study using the boundary element method (BEM) and based on the virtual heart model and the realistic human volume conductor model. The different contributions of cardiac equivalent source models and volume conductor models to the MCG are deeply and comprehensively investigated. The single dipole source model, the multiple dipoles source model and the equivalent double layer (EDL) source model are analysed and compared with the cardiac equivalent source models. Meanwhile, the effect of the volume conductor model on the MCG combined with these cardiac equivalent sources is investigated. The simulation results demonstrate that the cardiac electrophysiological information will be partly missed when only the single dipole source is taken, while the EDL source is a good option for MCG simulation and the effect of the volume conductor is smallest for the EDL source. Therefore, the EDL source is suitable for the study of MCG forward and inverse problems, and more attention should be paid to it in future MCG studies.