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NJIT Mathematical Biology Seminar

Tuesday, April 18, 2006, 4:00 pm
Cullimore Hall 611
New Jersey Institute of Technology

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Adaptive immersed boundary methods for simulating cardiac blood-muscle-valve mechanics and electrophysiology

Boyce Griffith

Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
New York University

Although the equations that describe cardiac mechanics and electrophysiology are different, in both cases a realistic treatment demands the use of methods that account for anisotropy, inhomogeneity, and complex geometries. We employ a unified theoretical framework, the immersed boundary (IB) method, for both aspects of cardiac physiology. This unified approach not only yields methodological overlap but also allows for substantial software reuse. This talk will include an overview of an adaptive version of the IB method for problems of fluid-structure interaction, as well as results from the application of this adaptive methodology to the three-dimensional simulation of blood flow in the heart. I shall also discuss the application of the IB framework to the modeling and simulation of the electrical function of the heart. Preliminary simulation results obtained using this new IB formulation of the bidomain equations will be presented. Basic details of cardiac physiology will be introduced as necessary, and computer animations of the model heart will be shown.