The influence of fibre orientation, extracted from different segments of the human left ventricle, on the activation and repolarization sequence: a simulation study.
OBJECTIVE
This computational study examined the influence of fibre orientation on the electrical processes in the heart. In contrast to similar previous studies, human diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging measurements were used.


METHODS
The fibre orientation was extracted from distinctive regions of the left ventricle. It was incorporated in a single tissue segment having a fixed geometry. The electrophysiological model applied in the computational units considered transmural heterogeneities. Excitation was computed by means of the monodomain model; the accompanying pseudo-electrocardiograms (ECGs) were calculated.


RESULTS
The distribution of fibre orientation extracted from the same transversal section showed only small variations. The fibre information extracted from the equal circumferential but different longitudinal positions showed larger differences, mainly in the imbrication angle. Differences of the endocardial myocyte orientation mainly affected the beginning of the activation sequence. The transmural propagation was faster in areas with larger imbrication angles leading to a narrower QRS complex in pseudo-ECGs.


CONCLUSIONS
The model can be expanded to simulate electrophysiology and contraction in the whole heart geometry. Embedded in a torso model, the impact of fibre orientation on body surface ECGs and their relation to local pseudo-ECGs can be identified.
Weiss
Daniel L
DL
Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany. daniel.weiss@kit.edu
Keller
David U J
DU
Seemann
Gunnar
G
Dössel
Olaf
O
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D016880:Anisotropy; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000502:physiology