NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF ELECTRIC FIELDS GENERATED BY OBLIQUE DIPOLE LAYERS IN ELECTROCARDIOLOGY

In this paper we present two approximate models for the excitation wavefront which gives rise to the electric field measurable in electrocardiology. The first model is based on the singular perturbation technique and the second on the oblique dipole layer theory. By means of the finite element method we compute extracellular potentials generated during the depolarization phase of the excitation process in a simplified model of cardiac muscle, consisting of an insulated infinite tridimensional wall of anisotropic myocardium. Numerical results for the two approximations are compared and discussed.