OUP accepted manuscript

Since 1998, the Theo Rossi di Montelera (TRM) forum has brought together researchers working on computer modelling, experimental research, and clinical research, with the objective to facilitate the translation of research findings in computer modelling of the heart into the clinical field. The 8th TRM forum was held at Lugano, Switzerland, on 6–8 December 2015, organized by the TRM foundation and hosted by the Center for Computational Medicine in Cardiology in Lugano. The theme was ‘Towards Integration of Cardiac Functions’. In this forum, cardiac function was addressed from the perspectives of electrical cardiac function, mechanical cardiac function, and circulatory function. Electrical cardiac function is generally assessed clinically with a body-surface electrocardiogram (ECG). However, the ECG represents an integrative measure of whole heart electrical activity, from which it is sometimes challenging to derive information about local cardiac activity. Computer models can help us to derive better patient-specific knowledge from routine ECG and determine the underlying electrical activation sequence. An example was presented by Cardone-Noott et al. 1 with a multi-scale computational study on the role of ventricular endocardial activation sequences on QRS complex variations in both healthy hearts and in the presence of intraventricular block. This study provides physiological insights on ECG biomarkers in terms of QRS morphology and location of early endocardial activation sites. Van Dam et al. 2 presented a novel method to localize premature ventricular contractions on the papillary muscles using a 12-lead ECG together with cardiac anatomy and torso geometry derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The precise localization of the site of origin of premature ventricular contractions could facilitate the planning and execution of an ablation procedure. Saha et al. 3 developed a computer model of the atria and torso to study the changes in P wave morphology resulting from pulmonary vein (PV) ablation. Results were …