title: High-throughput cardiac science on the Grid.
abstract: Cardiac electrophysiology is a mature discipline, with the first model of a cardiac cell action potential having been developed in 1962. Current models range from single ion channels, through very complex models of individual cardiac cells, to geometrically and anatomically detailed models of the electrical activity in whole ventricles. A critical issue for model developers is how to choose parameters that allow the model to faithfully reproduce observed physiological effects without over-fitting. In this paper, we discuss the use of a parametric modelling toolkit, called Nimrod, that makes it possible both to explore model behaviour as parameters are changed and also to tune parameters by optimizing model output. Importantly, Nimrod leverages computers on the Grid, accelerating experiments by using available high-performance platforms. We illustrate the use of Nimrod with two case studies, one at the cardiac tissue level and one at the cellular level.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Caulfield East, Melbourne, Victoria 3145, Australia. david.abramson@infotech.monash.edu.au
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abramson
authors.forename: Miguel O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Bernabeu
authors.forename: Blair
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bethwaite
authors.forename: Kevin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Burrage
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Corrias
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Enticott
authors.forename: Slavisa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Garic
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gavaghan
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Peachey
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pitt-Francis
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pueyo
authors.forename: Blanca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sher
authors.forename: Jefferson
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tan
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D057005:Bioengineering / Q000639:trends*; D003201:Computers; D003205:Computing Methodologies; D004594:Electrophysiology / Q000379:methods; D006321:Heart / Q000502:physiology*; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009206:Myocardium / Q000166:cytology; D012984:Software