Effects of fibroblast on cardiac electro-mechanics: A cube modeling study

Previous studies of cardiac electromechanical coupling have largely focused on myocytes, while fibroblasts have not been widely concerned. This study aimed to verify possible influences of fibroblasts on cardiac electro-mechanics with a real coupled cube model. At the cellular level, the ten Tusscher mathematical model of the human ventricular myocyte and the passive fibroblast model were combined with the J. Jeremy Rice mathematical model of contraction and cooperativity mechanisms. At the tissue level, regions of myocytes and fibroblasts were considered to be elastic bodies with different elastic modulus. Numerically, the finite difference method solved the excitation equations, and the finite element method settled the equations governing tissue mechanics. The results showed that fibroblasts slow down wave propagation and increase mesh contraction. The influence of fibroblasts on cardiac excitation and contraction should be pursued in future heart modeling studies.