Abstract:
Computer models of the heart can improve the understanding of the electrophysiological processes in healthy and diseased heart. They become more and more important for detailled diagnosis of arrhythmias and for optimization of therapy. Models of myocardium cells known today are described - they are based on the properties of all relevant ion channels in the cell membrane. Then it is demonstrated, how many cells can be joined to form a cell patch and how finally the complete heart can be modelled. A simpler approach is using a so called cellular automaton that allows for a significant reduction of calculation time while sacrifying some accordance to reality. Adaptive cellular automatons allow for a fast simulation with acceptable accuracy. Using them some results were gained for the simulation of typical arrhythmias, in the field of validation using an animal model and for therapy planning with RF-ablation.