Continuing adventures in qualitative modeling—a qualitative heart model

  • Authors:

  • J. B. Weinberg;G. Biswas;S. Uckun

  • Affiliations:

  • Dept. of Computer Science, Box 1688, Station B, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN;Dept. of Computer Science, Box 1688, Station B, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN;Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Box 1688, Station B, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

  • Venue:
  • IEA/AIE '90 Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Industrial and engineering applications of artificial intelligence and expert systems - Volume 1
  • Year:
  • 1990

Quantified Score

Hi-index 0.00

Visualization

Abstract

This paper discusses the second generation of an ongoing project for developing a model of cardiac electrophysiology with sophisticated reasoning mechanisms and robust explanation capabilities. The framework for this model combines device- and process-oriented ontologies, and contains mechanisms that introduce delays into process definitions for explicitly modeling sequences of temporal activities. The scheme has been applied to develop a model of the electrical subsystem of the heart. The first generation model incorporated a “lumped” view of the cardiac electrical system, and simulated single cardiac action potentials for each component of the system. As a result the electrical behavior of an entire region was collapsed into a single action potential curve, and the model captured only temporal relationships among action potentials of gross anatomical structures. To provide a more accurate picture of cardiac functionality, the second generation model distributes electrical activity through the muscle and conduction units. This distribution allows for derivation of behaviors that are related to local disturbances (e.g., scar tissue) in individual units or regions. The corresponding simulation model scheme will incorporate a three-dimensional spatial representation of the cardiac electrical system and the musculature.