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Electromechanics of Cardiac Tissue: A Unified Approach to the Fully Coupled Excitation‐Contraction Problem
Author(s) -
Göktepe Serdar,
Kuhl Ellen
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
pamm
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1617-7061
DOI - 10.1002/pamm.200910054
Subject(s) - electromechanics , linearization , finite element method , modular design , contraction (grammar) , computer science , cardiac electrophysiology , emulation , mathematics , residual , nonlinear system , algorithm , physics , mechanical engineering , engineering , medicine , electrophysiology , quantum mechanics , economics , economic growth , operating system , thermodynamics
This contribution is concerned with a new, unified finite element approach to the fully coupled problem of cardiac electromechanics. In contrast to the existing numerical approaches suggested in the literature; to the best of our knowledge, for the first time, we propose a fully implicit, purely finite‐element‐based approach to the coupled problem. The system of coupled algebraic equations obtained by simultaneous linearization of non‐linear weighted residual terms is solved monolithically. The put forward modular algorithmic framework leads to an unconditionally stable and geometrically flexible structure that can readily be extended towards complex ionic models of cardiac electrophysiology. The performance of the proposed approach is illustrated by the coupled electromechanical analysis of a biventricular generic heart model. (© 2009 Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)