Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Understanding physiological mechanisms underlying the activity of the heart is of great medical importance. Mathematical modeling and numerical simulation have become a widely accepted method of unraveling the underlying mechanism of the heart. Calcium (Ca2∈+∈) dynamics regulate the excitation-contraction coupling in heart muscle cells and hence are among the key players in maintaining normal activity of the heart. Many existing ventricular single cell models lack the biophysically detailed description of the Ca2∈+∈ dynamics. In this paper we examine how we can improve existing ventricular cell models by replacing their description of Ca2∈+∈ dynamics with the local Ca2∈+∈ control models. When replacing the existing Ca2∈+∈ dynamics in a given cell model with a different Ca2∈+∈ description, the parameters of the Ca2∈+∈ subsystem need to be re-fitted. Moreover, the search through the plausible parameter space is computationally very intensive. Thus, the Grid enabled Nimrod/O software tools are used for optimizing the cell parameters. Nimrod/O provides a convenient, user-friendly framework for this as exemplified by the incorporation of local Ca2∈+∈ dynamics into the ventricular single cell Noble 1998 model. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Original publication

DOI

10.1007/978-3-540-69384-0_12

Type

Journal article

Journal

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)

Publication Date

28/07/2008

Volume

5101 LNCS

Pages

66 - 75