A Three-Dimensional Model of the Human Atria With Heterogeneous Thickness and Fibre Transmurality - A Realistic Platform for the Study of Atrial Fibrillation

Multiscale cardiac modelling has been increasingly used since it provides a promising framework to improve our understanding of atrial fibrillation physiopathology.In this study, we present a highly detailed three-dimensional model of the human atria including heterogenous wall thickness and fibre transmurality, suggested as relevant factor in arrhythmogenic dynamics.We hypothesized that the structural definition of computer models influences the electrical propagation and to test it we compared the fibrillatory activity of the new model with two models less detailed anatomically but with the same electrical and tissular properties. The three studied models generated different arrhythmic patterns, with the appearance of re-entrant drivers at different atrial regions.We conclude that it is very important to use complete realistic atrial models, especially for atrial fibrillation studies, to obtain reliable results. Additionally, the developed model allows to consider new variables of study involving atrial wall thickness transmurality.