Abstract:

The fiber orientation in the atria has a significant contribution to the electrophysiologic behavior of the heart and to the genesis of arrhythmia. Atrial fiber orientation has a direct effect on excitation propagation, activation patterns and the P-wave. We present a rule-based algorithm that works robustly on different volumetric meshes composed of either isotropic hexahedra or arbitrary tetrahedra as well as on 3-dimensional triangular surface meshes in patient-specific geometric models. This method fosters the understanding of general pro-arrhythmic mechanisms and enhances patient-specific modeling approaches.

Abstract:

The fiber orientation in the atria has a significant contribution to the electrophysiologic behavior of the heart and to the genesis of arrhythmia. Atrial fiber orientation has a direct effect on excitation propagation, activation patterns and the P-wave. In this diploma thesis, a rule-based algorithm that works robustly on different volumetric meshes composed of either isotropic hexahedra or arbitrary tetrahedra as well as on 3-dimensional triangular surface meshes in patient-specific geometric models is presented. Furthermore, a rule-based algorithm is presented that can place different ablation scars with four ablationtypes in these meshes. The fiber orientation was annotated in eight patients and inthree different mesh types. All meshes could be annotated. The ablation scars were also annotated in eight different meshes and in three different mesh types using four different ablation types. All meshes could be annotated.Finally, an analysis of the influence of fiber orientation on the flutter paths was performed. It could be shown that there is an influence of the fiber orientation on the flutter paths.