title: Detailed Anatomical and Electrophysiological Models of Human Atria and Torso for the Simulation of Atrial Activation.
abstract: Atrial arrhythmias, and specifically atrial fibrillation (AF), induce rapid and irregular activation patterns that appear on the torso surface as abnormal P-waves in electrocardiograms and body surface potential maps (BSPM). In recent years both P-waves and the BSPM have been used to identify the mechanisms underlying AF, such as localizing ectopic foci or high-frequency rotors. However, the relationship between the activation of the different areas of the atria and the characteristics of the BSPM and P-wave signals are still far from being completely understood. In this work we developed a multi-scale framework, which combines a highly-detailed 3D atrial model and a torso model to study the relationship between atrial activation and surface signals in sinus rhythm. Using this multi scale model, it was revealed that the best places for recording P-waves are the frontal upper right and the frontal and rear left quadrants of the torso. Our results also suggest that only nine regions (of the twenty-one structures in which the atrial surface was divided) make a significant contribution to the BSPM and determine the main P-wave characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería (Ci2B), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ferrer
authors.affiliation: Computational Multiscale Physiology Lab (CoMMLab), Department of Computer Science, Universitat de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sebastián
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain.
authors.forename: Damián
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Quintana
authors.affiliation: Applied Mechanics and Bioengineering Group (AMB), Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain, and Dipartimento di Chimica, Materiali e Ingegneria Chimica "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: José F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería (Ci2B), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Eduardo J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Godoy
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería (Ci2B), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Centro de Investigación e Innovación en Bioingeniería (Ci2B), Universitat Politècnica de València, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Saiz
mesh_terms: D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000503:physiopathology; D016275:Atrial Function; D018780:Body Surface Potential Mapping; D006325:Heart Atria / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D060726:Torso / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology