An Electromechanical model of cardiac tissues

Wepresentanelectromechanicalmodelofmyocardiumtissue,coupling finite elasticity, endowed with the capability of describing muscle contractions, with a FitzHugh–Nagumo type system, describing the electrical activity proper to excitable media. Here, we exploit a novel point of view which introduces the notion of active deformation as opposed to that of active stress. The high degree of deformability of the medium makes mandatory to set the diffusion process in a moving domain, thereby producing a direct influence of the deformation on the electrical activity. Various effects of contraction on stationary rotating spiral waves and spiral wave break up are discussed