Electromechanics

Overview

Cardiac electromechanics is the fully coupled system describing how electrical activation drives mechanical contraction of the heart. It represents the synthesis of the computational infrastructure developed across the other research areas — ion channel dynamics, voltage propagation, and nonlinear solid mechanics — into a single tightly coupled simulation framework. Building this system is the ultimate goal of the computational pipeline.

Technical Formulation

The electromechanical system is coupled through several interdependent mechanisms. Voltage propagation across the tissue triggers ion channel dynamics, which produce calcium transients that drive active stress generation in the mechanical model. The coupling runs in both directions — mechanical deformation modifies the diffusion tensor governing electrical propagation, and stretch-activated ion channels introduce a direct mechanical feedback into the electrical system. These bidirectional dependencies make electromechanics one of the most challenging multiphysics problems in computational medicine, requiring careful treatment of the coupling at both the mathematical and computational levels.

Clinical Application

The fully coupled electromechanical model unlocks a class of clinically relevant problems that are inaccessible to purely mechanical or purely electrical simulations. Of particular interest is the study of infarction — regions of scarred, non-conducting tissue alter both the electrical propagation pattern and the mechanical response of the ventricle. Modeling these interactions computationally enables the study of how infarct size, location, and geometry affect arrhythmia risk and mechanical dysfunction, providing a quantitative foundation for patient-specific surgical and therapeutic planning.

References & Resources