Study of the electrical activity of heart cells by simulation with mathematical models

A study of the electrical activity of heart based simulations with three different types of cellular mathematical models is presented. Simulations focus on the electrical conduction system starting from the sinoatrial node, going through the internodal ways and reaching the atrioventricular node (7^th and 6^th order ODE system models). Cells are cross-coupled through resistances to simulate physiological interactions. Three different methods have been used to analyze simulation results: 1) production of a short film; 2) construction of graphs and maps of the distribution of generation frequencies of action potentials in the cell network and finally, 3) calculation of a pseudo-ECG. Simulations are able to replicate physiologically correct heart behaviors in a reasonable time. The requested computational power is limited to a common computer of the last generation. The proposed models together with calculation and analysis tools, could represent the starting point for targeting more complex heart system simulations.