Section: New Results

Cellular and sub-cellular models

The electrical activation of the heart relies on rapid propagation of activation impulses through intercellular connections. Cardiac arrhythmia are often due to damage to these intercellular connections. In various pathologies, loss of individual connections can lead to the formation of a complicated maze in which very slow propagation is possible, leading to reentrant arrhythmias. To investigate such phenomena, the PhD thesis work of P.-E. Bécue was dedicated to the development of a three-dimensional model of the cardiac tissue with sub-cellular resolution [31], [50], [51], [52], [49]. This work builds on our CEPS software, which was specifically extended for this purpose.

Aouadi et al. have specifically developed a model for the connections between the network of cardiac Purkinje fibers and the working myocardium [13] [45]. It handles the myocardium with a standard bidomain model and the Purkinje network, which consists of discrete bundles, with a one-dimensional monodomain model.

On an even smaller scale, the team also worked on a three-dimensional model of calcium release from intracellular organelles and its diffusion inside the cell [42].