Summary
Objectives
: Phase singularities have become a key marker in animal and computer models of atrial
and ventricular fibrillation. However, existing algorithms for the automatic detection
of phase singularities are limited to regular, quadratic mesh grids. We present an
algorithm to automatically and exactly detect phase singularities in triangular meshes.
Methods
: For each node an oriented path inscribing the node with one unit of spatial discretization
is identified. At each time step the phase information is calculated for all nodes.
The so-called topological charge is also computed for each node. A non-zero (± 2π)
charge is obtained for all nodes with a path enclosing a phase singularity. Thus all
charged nodes belonging to the same phase singularity have to be clustered.
Results
: With the use of the developed algorithm, phase singularities can be detected in
triangular meshes with an accuracy of below 0.2 mm – independent of the type of membrane
kinetics used.
Conclusions
: With the possibility to detect phase singularities automatically and exactly, important
quantitative data on cardiac fibrillation can be gained.
Keywords
Phase singularity - triangular mesh - cardiac fibrillation - computer modeling
