Modelling the action potential propagation in a heart with structural heterogeneities: From high‐resolution MRI to numerical simulations

Mathematical modelling and numerical simulation in cardiac electrophysiology have already been studied extensively. However, there is a clear lack of techniques and methodologies for studying the propagation of action potential in a heart with structural defects. In this article, we present a modified version of the bidomain model, derived using homogenisation techniques with the assumption of existence of diffusive inclusions in the cardiac tissue. The diffusive inclusions represent regions without electrically active myocytes, for example, fat, fibrosis, and so forth. We present an application of this model to a rat heart. Starting from high‐resolution MRI, the geometry of the heart is built and meshed using image processing techniques. We perform a study of the effects of tissue heterogeneities induced by diffusive inclusions on the velocity and shape of the depolarisation wavefront. We present several test cases with different geometries of diffusive inclusions. We reach the conclusion that the conduction velocity is not affected in the best cases, while it is affected by up to 76% in the worst case scenario. Additionally, the shape of the wavefront was affected in some cases. We present a modified version of the bidomain model that accounts for structural defects in cardiac tissue, for example, fat, fibrosis, and so forth where the conductivity tensors in the bidomain model are derived and calculated based on the shape and size of these defects. We demonstrate the application of this model on a rat heart, using its high‐resolution MRI data. We perform a study of the effects of tissue heterogeneities induced by periodic diffusive inclusions on the velocity and shape of the depolarisation wavefront.