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    JOURNAL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, VOLUME 15, ISSUE 2, OCTOBER 2012

    2012 JCSE

    www.Journalcse.co.uk

    26

    Application of 2-D Network Simplification toModellingand Simulation of the Cardiac

    Electrical ActivityUsing Bidomain ApproachIsaiah A. Adejumobi and Oluwaseun I. Adebisi

    Abstract-This work is an application of 2-D network simplification to modelling and simulation of cardiac electrical activity usingthe bidomain approach. The electrical activity of the heart is governed by differential equations consisting of partial differentialequations (PDEs) coupled to a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs).Theseequations are challenging to solvenumerically and implement owing to their non-linearity and stiffness. Explicit forward Euler method and 2-D network modellingwere respectively used for the time and space discretizations of the derived bidomain model. We implemented and simulatedthe discretized model to obtain the time characteristic of the transmembrane potential, Vm in the normal cardiac tissue. We alsoobserved the effects of changing the values of extracellular and intracellular resistances e, ion Vm; changing which resulted inits time dilation and gradual to near complete collapse. These are signs of cardiac electrical abnormalities. This work has notonly revealed the nature of propagating cardiac electrical signal based on 2-D network simplification of the bidomain model buthas also revealed that increase in values of electrical coupling between the cells in the 2-D network domain can significantly

    impact on the propagating cardiac electrical signal.

    Index Terms: bidomain approach, cardiac electrical activity, 2-D network simplification, transmembrane potential

    1 INTRODUCTIONThe electrical activity is very important for the

    heart to perform its functions. It is particularly

    responsible for the periodic contraction and

    relaxation of the heart which pumps blood

    throughout the body [1]. However, abnormal

    cardiac electrical activities have been posing great

    threats globally, causing many premature deaths.

    Mathematical models and computer

    simulations are rapidly becoming vital tools for

    investigating the heart conditions and the potential

    side effects of drugs on cardiac rhythms [2], [3].

    They offer a realistic means of understanding the

    underlying mechanisms of heart functions and

    many other biological systems without carrying

    out physical experiments.

    The cardiac electrophysiological models are

    governed by differential equations consisting of

    I.A. Adejumobi is with Electrical and Electronics EngineeringDepartment, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta,Nigeria.O.I. Adebisi is with Electrical and ElectronicsEngineeringDepartment, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta,Nigeria.

    coupled systems of partial differential equations

    (PDEs) and ordinary differential equations (ODEs)

    [1], [4]. These equations are usually non-linear and

    stiff, hence, pose computational challenges.

    Nevertheless, we adopted the bidomain approach

    in the present work due its ability to give a realistic

    simulation of cardiac electrical activity. It consists

    of a system of two degenerate non-linear partial

    differential equations coupled to a system of

    ordinary differential equations. Hence, to handle

    the computational complexities posed by the

    bidomain model, we have considered 2-D network

    simplification of the model in this work where the

    cardiac tissue is represented by interconnected

    network of cells, each individually described by a

    given system of cell model.

    This work is an application of 2-D network

    simplification to modelling and simulation of

    cardiac electrical activity using the bidomain

    approach. The electrical property of interest is the

    cardiac action potential. Our focus is to increase

    the value electrical coupling between the cells in

    the 2-D network domain and study the resulting

    effects on the cardiac action potential.

    1.1Cardiac Action Potential

    Action potential is an important basic electrical

    property of the heart. It is a time characteristic of

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    the transmembrane potential which is usually

    followed by a recovering of the resting condition. It

    shows different shapes and amplitudes according

    to the different kind of excitable media to which

    the cells belong to, and in the large muscle cells

    makes it possible the simultaneous contraction of

    the whole cell [5]. An action potential propagatesacross the heart in a heterogeneous way, keeping

    the same shape and amplitude all along an entire

    neural or muscular fibre.

    Cardiac cells are characterized by a negative

    transmembrane potential at rest and show two

    kinds of action potentials: the quick (or fast) and

    the slow response [5], [6]. The quick response

    action potential is typical in the myocardium fibres

    (both atrial and ventricular) and in the Purkinje

    fibres, which are fibres specialized in the

    conduction. The quick response action potential is

    usually identified by five different phases namely:

    phase 0 (depolarization phase), phase 1 (partial

    repolarization phase), phase 2 (plateau phase),

    phase 3 (repolarization) and phase 4 (resting

    membrane potential phase). Depolarization phase

    occurs due to the opening of the fast sodium ion

    (Na+) channels, causing a rapid increase in the

    membrane conductance to Na+ and therefore a

    rapid influx of Na+ into the cell. The partial

    repolarization phase occurs a result of the

    inactivation of the fast Na+ channels. The transient

    outward of potassium ion (K+) causes the small

    downward deflection of the action potential. The

    balance between the slow inward calcium ion

    (Ca++) currents and the outward K+ currents causes

    the plateau phase. Usually, the ventricular

    contraction persists throughout the action

    potential, so the long plateau produces a long

    action potential to ensure a forceful contraction of

    substantial duration. Rapid repolarization is

    caused by the outward K+ current. Na+

    channelrecovery starts during the relative

    refractory period. These phases are shown in fig. 1.

    Fig. 1: Quick (fast) response action potential [6]

    The slow response action potential is typical of

    the Sinoatrial Node (SA), the natural pacemaker of

    the heart, and the Atrioventricular Node (AV), thetissue meant to transfer pulse from atria to

    ventricles. The slow response action potential is

    identified by a less negative resting membrane

    potential phase, a smaller slope and amplitude

    depolarization phase, an absence of the partial

    repolarization phase and by a relative refractory

    period that continues during resting membrane

    potential phase. The slow response action potential

    is shown in fig. 2.

    Fig. 2: Slow response action potential [6]

    The electrical activity of the heart as a whole is

    therefore characterized by a complex multiscale

    structure, ranging from the microscopic activity of

    ion channels in the cellular membrane to the

    macroscopic properties of the anisotropic

    propagation of the excitation and recovery fronts

    in the whole heart and the most complete model

    that gives the description of such a complex

    process is the anisotropic bidomain model.

    4

    0

    3

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    2 MATHEMATICAL MODEL FORCARDIAC ELECTRICAL ACTIVITYThe electrical wave propagation in the thoracic

    volume is governed by three fundamental

    electrical laws [1], [ 7], [ 8]:

    The electrical charge conservation law The electrical conduction law (Ohms law) The consequence to the electromagnetic

    induction law

    The law of conservation of charge states that an

    outward flow of positive charges must be balanced

    by a decrease of positive chargeswithin the close

    surface [9], [10]. Hence, this requires that:

    = . = (1Where

    I is the current in Ampere (A)

    j is the current density in Ampere

    per square meter (A/m2)

    Q is the charge in Coulomb (C)

    S is the surface area in square meter (m2)

    t is the time in seconds (s)

    Applicationof divergence theoremwhich the

    surface integral to the volume integral to (1) gives

    (2) [9], [10]:

    . = .v (2Representing the enclosed charge Q by the

    volume integral of the charge density, (1) and (2)

    can be modified as:

    .v = ( ) v (3Whereis the volume charge density in coulombper cubic meter (C/m3).

    Keeping the surface constant, the derivatives in(1), (2) and (3) becomes partial derivative and may

    appear within the integral as:

    .v = ( ) v (4Since (4) is true for any volume no matter how

    small [9], [10]then;

    . = (5Equation (5) is generally called the continuity

    equation [9], [10].

    For a good conductor, the volume charge

    density is zero, = 0, since the amount of positiveand negative charges are equal [11]. Hence, ifthoracic volume is assumed to be volume of

    conductor, equation (5) can be modified as:

    . = 0 (6Equation (6) is called the electrical charge

    conservation law.

    Relatingthe current density j with the electric

    field E in volt per metre (V/m), the electric field E

    with the electric potential in volt (V) and currentdensity j with the electric potential, the followingfundamental laws emerge [9], [10]: the electric

    conduction law (Ohms law), electromagnetic

    induction law and modified Ohms law

    represented by:

    j = E (7

    E = (8j =

    (9

    Where is the conductivity in siemens per metre

    (S/m).

    The adopted bidomain modelassumes the

    cardiac tissue as a homogenized two-phase Ohmic

    conducting medium with one phase representing

    the intracellular space and the other, extracellular

    space. The phases are linked by a network of

    resistors and capacitors representing the ion

    channels and the capacitive current driven across

    the cell membrane due to a difference in potential

    respectively as shown in fig. 3.

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    Fig. 3: Schematic model of the bidomain space [12]

    Considering a post homogenization process,

    the intracellular and extracellular domains can be

    assumed to be superimposed to occupy the whole

    heart volume H [1], [13], [14], [15] and also appliesto the cell membrane. Hence, the average

    intracellular and extracellular current densities,

    and, conductivity tensors and and electricpotentials and are defined in H.Application of (6) to the heart volume gives:

    . = . = (10Where is the surface to volume ratio of the cellmembrane per meter (m-1) is the cell membrane current in ampere (A)

    From (10), (11) is obtained:

    . + = 0 (11Putting(9) in (10) yields:

    . = . (12The transmembrane potential,, defined as

    difference in potential between intracellular and

    extracellular spaces is represented by:

    (13Where is the intracellular electric potential in volt (V) is the extracellular electric potential in volt (V)

    Substitution of (13) in (12), gives:

    . ( + ) = . (14

    Extending the cell model formulated by

    Hodgkin and Huxley as reported in Matthias [12]

    with its electric circuit equivalence diagram as

    shown in fig. 4 to our reference model gives:

    = + , (15Where is the membrane capacitance in per area unit.Imis the membrane current in ampere (A)

    Iappis the excitation current in ampere (A)

    Iion is the ionic current in ampere (A)

    Fig.4: Cell model equivalent circuit diagram;ionic currentsare parallel-connected tomembrane capacitor[12]

    The use of (13) and (15) in (10) yields:

    . + . =( + , ) in (16

    The ionic variable w satisfies a system of ODEof the type given by (17):

    = ,in (17Where g is a vector-valued function.

    The bidomain model described by (14), (16) and

    (17) depicts a non-linear elliptic equation for the

    extracellular potential coupled with theparabolic differential equation for the

    transmembrane potential Vm as well as an ordinary

    differential equation representing the ionic current

    w.

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    Equations (14) and (16) describe the

    propagation of the electrical signal through the

    cardiac tissue while (17) describes the

    electrochemical reaction in the cell.

    The bidomain model described by (14), (16) and

    (17) has to be coupled to an ionic model andcomplemented with appropriate initial and

    boundary conditions for complete description of

    electrical wave propagation in the cardiovascular

    system.

    2.1 Ionic Model

    Some of the ionic models that have been to obtain

    the expressions forIionand g include [16]:FitzHugh-

    Nagumo model, Aliev-Panfilov Model, Roger

    McCulloch Model and MitchellSchaeffer model.

    However, we considered FitzHugh-Nagumo

    (FHN) model because it qualitatively gives therepresentation of the most basic features of the

    action potential coupled with its

    straightforwardness as well as wider theoretical

    and computational applications. Thevariantof the

    FHN model adoptedis represented by (18) and (19)

    [17].

    = 1 1 3 3 (18 = 2 + (19Where 1, 2,, are positive constant parametersrespectively called excitation rate constant,recovery rate constant, recovery decay constant

    and excitation decay constant. They are typical

    assumed to be positive constant. 1 controls thesharpness of the action potential which determines

    its mobility while2 controls the action potentialduration.

    2.2 Initial and Boundary Conditions

    The bidomain equations described by (14), (16) and

    (17) are subjected to the initial conditions given by

    (20):

    ,, 0 = ,, 0 = (20

    The boundary conditionimposed on this (14),

    (16) and (17) is that of a sealed boundary where no

    current flows across the boundary between the

    intracellular and extracellular domains, that is:

    . = . (21Where n is the normal vector to the domain

    boundary.

    2.3 Discretization

    The bidomain equations described by (14), (16) and

    (17) are non-linear. For easy handling and

    manipulation, these equations need to be

    linearized (discretized). Also, the bidomain

    equations are both time and space dependent,

    therefore they must be separately linearized.

    Various explicit and implicit time discretization

    techniques exist for linearizing differential

    equations, though, implicit method offers greater

    stability than explicit method but the latter is avery simple and straightforward method and

    problem of instability can be reduced by making

    the time step size very small. Hence, we employed

    explicit forward Euler time discretization scheme

    to linearize (16) and (17), which contain time

    derivatives.Equations (14) and (16) are space-

    discretized using 2-D discrete (network)

    modelling. The final discretized equations are

    given by (22), (23) and (24).

    +1 = +

    1

    1 3

    3

    + + (22With and assumed unity; Gi, the intracellularadmittance matrix equivalent to . , and t,timestep size.

    +1 = + 2 + (23 = + 1 .(24Where Ge, the extracellular admittance matrix

    equivalent to . .2.3.1. Construction of Admittance MatricesGiand Ge

    Owing to the adoption of 2-D discrete (network)

    modelling, we were able replace Del operators on

    the intracellular and extracellular conductivity

    tensors i and e with intracellular and

    extracellular admittances Gi and Ge. Gi and Ge were

    constructed by considering node arrays Nx-by-Ny

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    defined in the 2-D network domain to be linked by

    network of resistors arranged along x- and y-

    direction with ex, ey,ix,and iy representing the

    extracellular and intracellular resistance values

    along these directions.These resistors arrays were

    then transformed into matrices in the

    implementation code. This procedure is illustratedhere using 2 by 3 nodes in figure 5 as an example

    and the result was generalized to the Nx by Ny

    nodes considered in this work.

    Each resistor was represented by five indices;

    the xi and yi indices of one the nodes to which the

    resistor was connected, the xj and yj indices of the

    other nodes to which the resistor was connected

    and resistor value . These five-index arrays are

    presented in table 1. The two separate indices

    representing each node (cell) to which the resistor

    was connected were then converted into a single

    index (encircled numbers in fig.5) which now

    represented the first node (x'i) to which the resistor

    was connected and the second node (y'j) to which

    the resistor was connected. It is these two single-

    indexed arrays that were stored in the matrices of

    Gi and Ge to represent the positions pij where the

    resistors are to be placed in the admittance

    matrices. This is presented in table 2.

    Fig. 5: Network of Resistors Connecting the Nodes

    TABLE 1FIVE-INDEX ARRAYS

    xi yi xj yj

    1 1 1 2 x

    1 2 1 3 x

    2 1 2 2 x

    2 2 2 3 x

    1 1 2 1 y

    1 2 2 2 y

    1 3 2 3 y

    TABLE 2TWO SINGLE-INDEXED ARRAYS

    x'i y'j

    1 2

    2 3

    4 5

    5 6

    1 4

    2 5

    3 6

    Scanning through the network of resistors in

    fig.5 from left to right and right to left, it was

    observed that the resistor values were equal in

    both directions, that is, 12is equal to 21 and so on.

    Based on this, size of the admittance matrices Gisnd Ge is 6 by 6 matrices that is (2 x 3 by 2 x 3). The

    final matrix elements positions pij and their values

    are respectively shown in the matrices below.

    , =

    11 12 1321 22 2331 32 3314 15 1624 25 2634 35 3641 42 4351 52 5361 62 6344 45 4654 55 5664 65 66

    , =

    0 0 0 0 0

    0 00

    0

    0 0 0 00 00 0

    0 0 0 0 0

    Where gx is 1 and gy is 1 The admittance matrices finally obtained

    represented homogeneous but anisotropic system

    since the resistors appeared the same everywhere

    but current flows in the two different directions x

    and y due to difference in the resistances in the x

    and y directions were different.

    3 APPLICATION OF COMPUTERThe discretized equations were implemented in

    Java programming language (Java 6.0 version).

    Java is an object-oriented programming language.

    We adopted Java basically because of its enriched

    mathematical library and well designed Graphical

    User Interface (GUI) for displaying graphical

    representation of results. Another benefit of Java is

    1,

    1,2 1,3

    2,1 2,2 2,3

    x

    x

    y y

    1 2 3

    4 5 6

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    its portability across various operating systems. A

    flow chart for the implementation algorithms is

    shown in fig. 6 below. Simulation experiments

    were carried out on a 4GB RAM, Intel (R) Core

    (TM) i7 CPU M620 @ 2.67GHz and 32-bit operating

    system computer. Running time of one simulation

    experiment ranged between 3 and 7minutes forunchanged and changed intracellular and

    extracellular resistances.

    Fig. 6: Flow chart for the bidomain code

    4 SIMULATION RESULTS ANDANALYSISIn this section of the work we present the results of

    our simulations. We performed simulation

    experiment using the developed 2-D Java

    programme based on the linearized bidomain

    equations given by (22), (23) and (24) and the

    parameters in table 3.

    Start

    Input parameters

    Construct admittance

    matrices Gi and Ge

    Sum matrices Gi and Ge

    Invert the sum ofmatrices Gi and Ge

    Construct the right hand

    side of equation (24)

    Solve for e at timestep n(24)

    Solve Vm at timestep

    n+1(22)

    Solve w at timestep

    n+1 (23)

    Plot results V

    against Tim

    Stop

    Keep matrix

    Next

    timeste

    Impose initial conditionson Vm and w

    Define arrays

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    TABLE 3VALUES OF BASIC PARAMETERS [17]

    Parameter Symbol Value

    Excitation rate constant 1 0.2

    Recovery rate constant 2 0.2

    Excitation decay constant 0.7

    Recovery decay constant 0.8

    Time step size t 0.01Extracellular resistance in x-

    direction

    1.0Extracellular resistance in y-

    direction

    3.0Intracellular resistance in x-

    direction

    1.0Intracellular resistance in y-

    direction

    3.0Resting transmembrane

    potential

    -1.2Initial value of ionic variable wo -0.62

    The selected cells 8, 10, 15, 17 of the 50-by-50

    nodes (cells) specified in 2-D network domain

    produced the propagated electrical waves in the

    normal cardiac tissue as shown in fig. 7a to d

    respectively with depolarization, partial

    repolarization, plateau, repolarization and resting

    membrane potential phases identified using the

    values 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 in fig. 7b for clarity. This

    electrical signal produced is called the action

    potential (time characteristic of transmembrane

    potential), with the highest period observed in thiswork around 600ms. Fig. 7a to d are typically of

    the same wave pattern, consistent with the

    theoretical standard and the experimental findings

    from other researchers [1], [18, [19].

    (a)

    (b)

    (c)

    (d)Fig. 7: Electrical wave propagation in the normal cardiactissue: (a) at cell 8, (b) at cell 10, (c) at cell 15, (d) at cell 17

    In order tostudy the effects ofincreasing the

    value of electrical coupling between the cells in the

    0

    12

    3

    4

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    2-D network domain on the propagated cardiac

    signal, the extracellular and the intracellular

    resistancesex, ey,ix, and iy connecting different

    cells along x and y directions in the 2-D network

    domain were subjected to five levels of increment.

    The values of ex, ey,ix, and iygiven as 1, 3, 1 and

    3 respectively were increased by a factors of 1.5, 2,2.5, 3 and 10.During the simulations, time dilation

    effect in which the cardiac signals witnessed

    extended excitation cycles was observed when the

    extracellular and intracellular resistances ex, ey,

    ix, and iy along the x and y directions in the 2-D

    network domain were increased by factors of 1.5, 2,

    2.5, 3 and10 respectively. Also, it was observed that

    the slopes of cardiac signals witnessed gradual

    collapse which became more obvious when ex, ey,

    ix, and iy were increased by factors of 3 and

    10.The implication of this slope collapse is that the

    cardiac signals were not able to return to the

    resting state especially under the incremental

    factor of 10 for the period around 2 seconds which

    when compared to the excitation values in fig. 7 is

    an over-excitation period and is an indication of

    abnormal electrical wave propagation in the

    cardiac tissue. The obtained propagated cardiac

    signals for each incremental value are presented in

    fig. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

    (a)

    (b)

    (c)

    (d)Fig. 8: Electrical wave propagation due to increment in ex,ey, ix, and iy by factor of 1.5: (a) at cell 8, (b) at cell 10, (c)at cell 15, (d) at cell 17

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    (a)

    (b)

    (c)

    (d)Fig. 9: Electrical wave propagation due to increment in ex,ey, ix, and iy by factor of 2: (a) at cell 8, (b) at cel 10, (c) atcell 15, (d) at cell 17

    (a)

    (b)

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    (c)

    (d)

    Fig. 10: Electrical wave propagation due to increment in ex,ey, ix, and iy by factor of 2.5: (a) at cell 8, (b) atcell 10, (c) atcell 15, (d) at cell 17

    (a)

    (b)

    (c)

    (d)Fig. 11: Electrical wave propagation due to increment in ex,ey, ix, and iy by factor of 3: (a) at cell 8, (b) at cell10, (c) atcell 15, (d) at cell 17

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    (a)

    (b)

    (c)

    (d)Fig. 12: Electrical wave propagation due to increment in ex,ey, ix, and iy by factor of 10: (a) at cell 8, (b) at cell10, (c) atcell 15, (d) at cell 17

    5 CONCLUSIONIn this work, we applied 2-D network

    simplification to the modelling and simulation of

    cardiac electrical activity using bidomain

    approach. Apart from the fact that our adoption of

    2-D network simplification of the bidomain model

    enabled to avoid excessive computations, we have

    also been able to provide some insights into the

    electrical behaviour of human heart, revealing the

    nature of the electrical wave propagation pattern

    in the normal cardiac tissue.This work further

    revealed that increase in the intracellular andextracellular resistances coupling different cells in

    the 2-D network domain beyond certain limit can

    cause time dilation effect and collapse of the

    cardiac electrical waves with the overall effect of a

    delayed repolarization.If this persists for a long

    time, it may result in sudden cardiac death.

    Research is still on-gong on the application of

    continuum modelling (specifically finite element

    method) to analysis of cardiac electrical activity

    using bidomain approach. This model takes care of

    the pitfall our adopted network (discrete)

    modelling which uses cell counts below the actualcell counts of the heart.

    6 REFERENCES[1] M.S. Shuaiby, A.H. Mohsen and E. Moumen,

    Modelling and Simulation of The Action

    Potential in Human Cardiac Tissue Using

    Finite Element Method, J. of Commun. &Comput. Eng., vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 21-27, 2012.

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    Isaiah A. Adejumobi obtained his B.Eng., M.Eng.

    and Ph.D degrees in Electrical Engineering from

    University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria in 1987, 1992

    and 2003 respectively. He started his academic

    career form University of Ilorin in August 1990

    where he worked for about fifteen and half years

    before moving to his present place of work;

    Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta,

    Nigeria. He is a Corporate Member of Nigeria

    Society of Engineering and a registered

    Engineering for Council for the Regulation of

    Engineering in Nigeria. Academically Dr

    Adejumobi has led some joint researches in

    electrical and related disciplines. He has over thirty

    journal publications both locally and

    internationally. He is currently working on a jointresearch on Cardiac Electrical Activities, a research

    that was motivated due to the increasing

    cardiovascular problems in Nigeria. He is

    currently an Associate Professor of Electrical

    Engineering.

    Oluwaseun I. Adebisi obtained his B.Eng. degree

    in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from

    http://www.intechopen.com/bookhttp://www.intechopen.com/bookhttp://www.intechopen.com/bookhttp://pages.physics.cornell.edu/http://pages.physics.cornell.edu/http://pages.physics.cornell.edu/http://www.intechopen.com/book
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    JOURNAL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, VOLUME 15, ISSUE 2, OCTOBER 2012

    2012 JCSE

    39

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta,

    Nigeria. He is currently a Junior Research Fellow

    in the Department of Electrical and Electronics

    Engineering in the University. His research interest

    is on Modelling of Cardiac Electrical Activities.