Electro-Mechanical Activity of Cardiac Tissue: Mathematical
andNumerical Modelling
Some basic aspects of the mathematical models used to describe the
cardiac tissue will be presented considering, in particular, the
electrophysiology and the myocardium mechanics, as well as the
methods used for their coupling. The origins of the electrical
activity in the cardiomyocytes will be shown, entering into the
cell physiology. During a normal heart beat, the electrical signal
propagates throughout the tissue and it generates internal forces
which are the main responsible of the muscle contraction. The
presentation will focus on the constitutive relations that are used
to describe cardiac mechanics and on two possible approaches for
the description of the active forces induced by the
ions during a contraction cycle. Some simple
simulations will be shown for a better understanding of the
subject.
