Bachelor Thesis

Comparison of Cardiac Simulation Tools Regarding the Modeling of Acute Ischemia

Acute cardiac ischemia is one of the most common causes of death in western industrialized countries. This pathology is characterized by a deficient blood supply of the heart muscle, due to the occlusion of a coronary artery. Consequently, a shortage of nutrients and oxygen, as well as an insufficient removal of metabolic waste products, can be observed. Mainly three effects occur during the course of acute ischemia: hyperkalemia, acidosis and hypoxia. Furthermore, cardiac ischemia often leads to lethal pump failure or ventricular arrhythmias. Thus, an early diagnosis of acute ischemia using ECG measurements helps improving the patients’ outcome. Only few detailed experimental data of acute ischemia of humans is available. Therefore, detailed computer simulations investigating the impact of cardiac ischemia on the ECG are necessary.
Cardiac cell models and the monodomain model are capable to describe electrical phenomena in the heart. In previous work, a ventricular cell model describing the effects of the first 10 minutes of cardiac ischemia was implemented. The impact of these effects on the ECG was investigated.
In this work, a simplified model of the effects of acute ischemia shall be transferred to a cellular automaton. Then, both simulation environments shall be benchmarked.