Understanding the mechanisms behind unexplained abnormal heart rhythms is important for diagnosis and prevention of arrhythmias. Many studies have investigated the mechanisms at organ, tissue, cellular and molecular levels. There is considerable information available from tissue level experiments that investigate local action potential properties and from optical imaging to observe activity propagation properties at an organ level. By combining those electrophysiological properties together, in the present study we developed a simulation model that can help in estimation of the resulting body surface potentials from a specific electrical activity pattern within the myocardium. Some of the potential uses of our model include: 1) providing visualization of an entire electrophysiological event, i.e. surface potentials and associated source which would be optical imaging data, 2) estimation of QT intervals resulting from local action potential property changes, 3) aiding in improving defibrillation therapy by determining optimal timing and location of shocks
