Browsing by Author "MBewu, James"

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    Computational modelling of cardiac function and myocardial infarction
    (2012) MBewu, James; Reddy, B Daya; Skatulla, Sebastian
    Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of death in South Africa. In particular non-fatal myocardial infarction is a key determinant for future cardiac failure due to adverse remodelling and electrophysiological dysfunction. Computational modelling of the electrophysiology and mechanics of the heart can provide useful insights into the causes of cardiac failure and the efficacy of treatments designed to combat myocardial infarction. A computational model of the healthy and infarcted left ventricle of a rat was developed using the eikonal diffusion equation to simulate the electrophysiology; a continuum mechanical model incorporating a passive mechanical model of Usyk to describe the nonlinear, anisotropic and nearly compressible nature of cardiac tissue; and an active stress model of Guccione to model the contraction of cardiac tissue. Boundary conditions modelling the blood pressure on the heart wall were applied to simulate the cardiac cycle.