Multi-scale simulations of cardiac electrophysiology and mechanics using the University of Tokyo heart simulator

The importance and need for an integrative mathematical modeling approach in the biological and medical fields is currently well recognized. Such an approach is crucial in understanding the complexity of hierarchical biological systems increasingly revealed by active researches in molecular and cellular biology. Particularly in cardiac functioning, modeling must cover such diverse phenomena as solid mechanics, fluid dynamics, electricity and biochemistry. Recent advancements in computational science and the development of high-performance computers have enabled the creation of multi-scale, multi-physics simulation heart models using the finite element method. Although whole heart or ventricular models of electrophysiology involving electro-mechanics with or without blood flow dynamics have been reported, to our knowledge no single model has yet succeeded in completely reproducing the behavior of the heart from the subcellular to whole organ levels. In this article, we present a brief methodology-focused review on some of the essential components for multi-scale, multi-physics heart modeling. A perspective of heart modeling in the era of high performance computing is also presented.