Time-Varying Mechanical Properties of the Left Ventricle-A Computer Simulation

A numerical model of left ventricular (LV) pump function, incorporating cardiac muscle mechanics and LV geometry, was used to derive a simple linear model of local LV contractile properties. This simplified model views the ventricle as a pressure generator (related to isovolumic contraction) coupled with two time-varying elements: 1) a viscous term (related to the dissipative properties of the myocardium), and 2) an elastic term (related to the tension-length curve of activated fiber and to LV geometry).