Ensemble learning of the atrial fibre orientation with physics-informed neural networks

Magana, E.; Pezzuto S.; Costabal F.S.

Keywords: Cardiac electrophysiology, deep learning, Physics-Informed Neural Networks, Eikonal Equation, anisotropic conduction velocity, cardiac fibres

Abstract

Abstract: The anisotropic structure of the myocardium is a key determinant of the cardiac function. To date there is no imaging modality to assess in vivo the cardiac fibre structure. We recently proposed Fibernet, a method for the automatic identification of the anisotropic conduction – and thus fibres – in the atria from local electrical recordings. Fibernet uses cardiac activation as recorded during electroanatomical mappings to infer local conduction properties using physics-informed neural networks. In this work we extend Fibernet to cope with the uncertainty in the estimated fibre field. Specifically we use an ensemble of neural networks to produce multiple samples, all fitting the observed data, and compute posterior statistics. We also introduce a methodology to select the best fibre orientation members and define the input of the neural networks directly on the atrial surface. With these improvements we outperform the previous methodology in terms of fibre orientation error in eight different atrial anatomies. Currently our approach can estimate the fibre orientation and conduction velocities in under 7 min with quantified uncertainty, which opens the door to its application in clinical practice. We hope the proposed methodology will enable further personalisation of cardiac digital twins for precision medicine. (Figure presented.). Key points: The direction of heart muscle fibres strongly affects how electrical signals travel, but current imaging methods cannot measure these fibres inside the living atria. We improved our previous method (Fibernet) by introducing (Formula presented.) -Fibernet, which is more accurate and can estimate uncertainty in the results. (Formula presented.) -Fibernet works directly on the surface of the heart and includes a new approach to select the most reliable fibre direction. The method produces results in under 7 min and could support personalised treatment planning for heart rhythm disorders. © 2025 The Authors. The Journal of Physiology © 2025 The Physiological Society.

Más información

Título según WOS: Ensemble learning of the atrial fibre orientation with physics-informed neural networks
Título según SCOPUS: Ensemble learning of the atrial fibre orientation with physics-informed neural networks
Título de la Revista: Journal of Physiology
Editorial: John Wiley and Sons Inc.
Fecha de publicación: 2025
Idioma: English
DOI:

10.1113/JP288001

Notas: ISI, SCOPUS