Abstract
The forward problem in magnetocardiography (MCG) is important for understanding the relationship between the electric activity of the heart and the body surface magnetic field (BSM), and providing insight into the clinical application of MCG. In this paper, we proposed a computational framework based on the finite element method (FEM) to solve the MCG forward problem. For the subject-specific heart-torso geometry established from the medical image, the modified FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) equation was used to describe the volumetric myocardial dynamic transmembrane potential (TMP), then the quasi-static Maxwell equations was applied to simulate the propagation of cardiac magnetic field produced by TMP. The two parts were validated on the simplified one-dimensional FHN equation and the source model of the straight wire respectively, in which the analytical solutions exist. Further, under a realistic geometry heart-torso model, the distribution of the body surface magnetic vector field was presented, the component in the direction perpendicular to the body surface ( B <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">y</sub> ) of which was in very good agreement with the actual observations from the same subject on a pulse-pumped Rb atomic magnetometer.
Highlights
Cardiovascular disease seriously affects human health [1], and its early diagnosis is important
MCG may be more helpful than ECG in diagnosing heart disease, because the magnetic field measured by MCG is a vector, which contains more detailed cardiac electrophysiological information than the electric field measured by ECG
This paper presents a computational framework for the MCG forward problem based on a personalized threedimensional (3D) heart-torso model to study the body surface magnetic field (BSM) generated by cardiac excitation
Summary
Cardiovascular disease seriously affects human health [1], and its early diagnosis is important. MCG may be more helpful than ECG in diagnosing heart disease, because the magnetic field measured by MCG is a vector, which contains more detailed cardiac electrophysiological information than the electric field measured by ECG [4]. This paper presents a computational framework for the MCG forward problem based on a personalized threedimensional (3D) heart-torso model to study the body surface magnetic field (BSM) generated by cardiac excitation. A cardiac magnetic field model for the body surface was established based on the quasistatic Maxwell equations [14], and combined with the cardiac electrophysiological model to study the diffusion of the magnetic field generated by the TMP in the torso, and the projection distribution of the BSM was obtained. The results have demonstrated that the computational framework is feasible
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