Multiphysics Modeling of the Atrial Systole under Standard Ablation Strategies

The aim of this study was to develop a computational framework to compare the impact of standard ablation concepts on the mechanical performance of the atria, since different line combinations cannot be applied in practice to the same patient. For this purpuse, we coupled electro-mechano-hemodynamic mathematical models based on biophysical principles and simulate the contractile performance of the atria. We computed systolic pressures and volumes in two patient-specific atrial geometries (one of normal size and one hypertrophied) with various ablation concepts. We found that our computational model is able to detect the differences in the left atrial contractility and ejection fraction for various electrical activation sequences resulting from different ablation line combinations. We show that multiphysics modeling has the potential to quantify the hemodynamic performance of left atria for different ablation lines, which could be used as additional pre-operative clinical information for the choice of the ablation concept in the future.