Modeling Excitable Tissue - The EMI Framework

This is the seventh volume in the Simula SpringerBriefs series and presents a novel computational framework for understanding how collections of excitable cells work.

The Simula SpringerBriefs on Computing aims to provide introductions to select areas of research in computing. Each volume aims to provide an introduction to, and overview over, research fields that can otherwise be inaccessible. This is the seventh volume in this series, and the first volume in the new sub-series "Reports on Computational Physiology", which will explore multiple physiological questions and the models developed to address them.

Modeling Excitable Tissue - the EMI Framework presents a novel computational framework for understanding how collections of excitable cells work. The key approach in the text is to model excitable tissue by representing the individual cells constituting the tissue. This is in contrast to the common approach where homogenization is used to develop models where the cells are not explicitly present. The approach allows for very detailed analysis of small collections of excitable cells, but computational challenges limit the applicability in the presence of large collections of cells.

This brief text is accessible for an audience with some background in computational mathematics and introduces a state-of-the-art approach to simulation of excitable cells. Software is available for all the models presented in the text.

Open access

Modeling Excitable Tissue - the EMI Framework is now available for download. As with all the Simula SpringerBriefs on Computing, this volume is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license and was published by SpringerOpen.

About the editors

Aslak Tveito is a professor of scientific computing at the University of Oslo and the CEO of Simula Research Laboratory. He has co-authored three textbooks, one research monograph and many journal papers on computational physiology. His research interests are related to the use of computational methods to understand the dynamics of collections of excitable cells.

Kent-Andre Mardal is a professor of mechanics at the University of Oslo and an adjunct research scientist at Simula Research Laboratory. He has published more than 90 scientific publications, including journal papers, two co-authored books and co-edited the book about the FEniCS project, for which he was a core developer for many years. Research interests include computational modelling of various life science applications and robust, stable and accurate numerical schemes.

Marie E. Rognes is a research professor at Simula Research Laboratory and a founding member of the Young Academy of Norway. She has over 50 scientific publications and has delivered numerous keynote addresses and invited talks, including a TEDx talk. Her research is primarily focused on mathematical and computational modelling of fluid flow in the brain, and this work has been partially funded by an ERC starting grant.