A COUPLED CUBIC HERMITE FINITE-ELEMENT BOUNDARY-ELEMENT PROCEDURE FORELECTROCARDIOGRAPHIC PROBLEMS

The problem considered is that of trying to determine the potential di stribution inside a human torso as a result oi the heart's electrical activity. We describe here a high order (cubic Hermite) coupled finite element/boundary element procedure for solving such electrocardiograp hic potential problems inside an anatomically accurate human torso. De tails of the cubic Hermite boundary element procedure and its coupling to the finite element method are described. We then present two and t hree dimensional test results showing the success, efficiency and accu racy of this high order coupled technique. Some initial results on an anatomically accurate torso are also given.