Modeling Human Ventricular Cardiomyocyte Force-Frequency Relationship

Abstract We investigate the force-frequency relationship (FFR) representation of human ventricular cardiomyocyte models and point out shortcomings, motivated by discrepancies in whole-heart simulations at increased pacing rates. Utilizing the openCARP simulator, simulations across frequencies ranging from 1 Hz to 3 Hz were conducted. Experimental data on healthy human ventricular cardiomyocytes were collected and compared against simulated results. Results show deviations for all models, with Tomek et al. modeling time sensitive biomarkers the best. For example, the ratio of time to peak tension at 2 Hz and 1 Hz is around 85% for experiments, 82% for hybrid data, 95% for Tomek et al., 98% for O’Hara et al. and 138% for ten Tusscher et al. These discrepancies, highlight not only the need for careful selection of ionic models, but also the importance of refining ventricular cardiomyocyte models for advancing in-silico cardiac research.