Incorporating Inductances in Tissue-Scale Models of Cardiac Electrophysiology

In standard models of cardiac electrophysiology, including the bidomain and monodomain models, local perturbations can propagate at infinite speed. We address this unrealistic property by developing a hyperbolic bidomain model that is based on a generalization of Ohm's law with a Cattaneo-type model for the fluxes. Further, we obtain a hyperbolic monodomain model in the case that the intracellular and extracellular conductivity tensors have the same anisotropy ratio. In one spatial dimension, the hyperbolic monodomain model is equivalent to a cable model that includes axial inductances, and the relaxation times of the Cattaneo fluxes are strictly related to these inductances. A purely linear analysis shows that the inductances are negligible, but models of cardiac electrophysiology are highly nonlinear, and linear predictions may not capture the fully nonlinear dynamics. In fact, contrary to the linear analysis, we show that for simple nonlinear ionic models, an increase in conduction velocity is obtained for small and moderate values of the relaxation time. A similar behavior is also demonstrated with biophysically detailed ionic models. Using the Fenton-Karma model along with a low-order finite element spatial discretization, we numerically analyze differences between the standard monodomain model and the hyperbolic monodomain model. In a simple benchmark test, we show that the propagation of the action potential is strongly influenced by the alignment of the fibers with respect to the mesh in both the parabolic and hyperbolic models when using relatively coarse spatial discretizations. Accurate predictions of the conduction velocity require computational mesh spacings on the order of a single cardiac cell. We also compare the two formulations in the case of spiral break up and atrial fibrillation in an anatomically detailed model of the left atrium, and [...].Comment: 20 pages, 12 figure

Dynamics of Current, Charge and Mass

Electricity plays a special role in our lives and life. Equations of electron dynamics are nearly exact and apply from nuclear particles to stars. These Maxwell equations include a special term the displacement current (of vacuum). Displacement current allows electrical signals to propagate through space. Displacement current guarantees that current is exactly conserved from inside atoms to between stars, as long as current is defined as Maxwell did, as the entire source of the curl of the magnetic field. We show how the Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics allows easy definition of current. We show how conservation of current can be derived without mention of the polarization or dielectric properties of matter. Matter does not behave the way physicists of the 1800's thought it does with a single dielectric constant, a real positive number independent of everything. Charge moves in enormously complicated ways that cannot be described in that way, when studied on time scales important today for electronic technology and molecular biology. Life occurs in ionic solutions in which charge moves in response to forces not mentioned or described in the Maxwell equations, like convection and diffusion. Classical derivations of conservation of current involve classical treatments of dielectrics and polarization in nearly every textbook. Because real dielectrics do not behave in a classical way, classical derivations of conservation of current are often distrusted or even ignored. We show that current is conserved exactly in any material no matter how complex the dielectric, polarization or conduction currents are. We believe models, simulations, and computations should conserve current on all scales, as accurately as possible, because physics conserves current that way. We believe models will be much more successful if they conserve current at every level of resolution, the way physics does.Comment: Version 4 slight reformattin

Dynamics of Patterns

Patterns and nonlinear waves arise in many applications. Mathematical descriptions and analyses draw from a variety of fields such as partial differential equations of various types, differential and difference equations on networks and lattices, multi-particle systems, time-delayed systems, and numerical analysis. This workshop brought together researchers from these diverse areas to bridge existing gaps and to facilitate interaction

Hybrid B-Spline Collocation Method for Solving the Generalized Burgers-Fisher and Burgers-Huxley Equations

In this study, we introduce a new numerical technique for solving nonlinear generalized Burgers-Fisher and Burgers-Huxley equations using hybrid B-spline collocation method. This technique is based on usual finite difference scheme and Crank-Nicolson method which are used to discretize the time derivative and spatial derivatives, respectively. Furthermore, hybrid B-spline function is utilized as interpolating functions in spatial dimension. The scheme is verified unconditionally stable using the Von Neumann (Fourier) method. Several test problems are considered to check the accuracy of the proposed scheme. The numerical results are in good agreement with known exact solutions and the existing schemes in literature

Computational and numerical analysis of differential equations using spectral based collocation method.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.In this thesis, we develop accurate and computationally efficient spectral collocation-based methods, both modified and new, and apply them to solve differential equations. Spectral collocation-based methods are the most commonly used methods for approximating smooth solutions of differential equations defined over simple geometries. Procedurally, these methods entail transforming the gov erning differential equation(s) into a system of linear algebraic equations that can be solved directly. Owing to the complexity of expanding the numerical algorithms to higher dimensions, as reported in the literature, researchers often transform their models to reduce the number of variables or narrow them down to problems with fewer dimensions. Such a process is accomplished by making a series of assumptions that limit the scope of the study. To address this deficiency, the present study explores the development of numerical algorithms for solving ordinary and partial differential equations defined over simple geometries. The solutions of the differential equations considered are approximated using interpolating polynomials that satisfy the given differential equation at se lected distinct collocation points preferably the Chebyshev-Gauss-Lobatto points. The size of the computational domain is particularly emphasized as it plays a key role in determining the number of grid points that are used; a feature that dictates the accuracy and the computational expense of the spectral method. To solve differential equations defined on large computational domains much effort is devoted to the development and application of new multidomain approaches, based on decomposing large spatial domain(s) into a sequence of overlapping subintervals and a large time interval into equal non-overlapping subintervals. The rigorous analysis of the numerical results con firms the superiority of these multiple domain techniques in terms of accuracy and computational efficiency over the single domain approach when applied to problems defined over large domains. The structure of the thesis indicates a smooth sequence of constructing spectral collocation method algorithms for problems across different dimensions. The process of switching between dimensions is explained by presenting the work in chronological order from a simple one-dimensional problem to more complex higher-dimensional problems. The preliminary chapter explores solutions of or dinary differential equations. Subsequent chapters then build on solutions to partial differential i equations in order of increasing computational complexity. The transition between intermediate dimensions is demonstrated and reinforced while highlighting the computational complexities in volved. Discussions of the numerical methods terminate with development and application of a new method namely; the trivariate spectral collocation method for solving two-dimensional initial boundary value problems. Finally, the new error bound theorems on polynomial interpolation are presented with rigorous proofs in each chapter to benchmark the adoption of the different numerical algorithms. The numerical results of the study confirm that incorporating domain decomposition techniques in spectral collocation methods work effectively for all dimensions, as we report highly accurate results obtained in a computationally efficient manner for problems defined on large do mains. The findings of this study thus lay a solid foundation to overcome major challenges that numerical analysts might encounter