Three-dimensional finite element model of human thorax

A program has been developed to build a three-dimensional finite-element model of the human thorax using actual data from computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. The new program is useful in studying current distribution when external pacing or defibrillation pulses are applied to a patient's thorax. This program is written for an Apple Macintosh IIR computer with a color or a monochrome display. The data used to build the model are obtained from transverse CT or MRI scans which are layered about 4 mm apart. Each layer consists of a 512*512 pixel matrix generated during the imaging process. Each pixel is 0.7 mm square and is representative of the tissue density.<>